Free to Play
by RahXephon
Summary: A new service has come to Brockton Bay! Ever wanted to don a cape and become a superhero? Now's your chance, as Free2Play offers superpowers to anyone at absolutely no cost. Everyone who applies gets a superpower for free. What are you waiting for? Apply now and become a shining hero or dastardly villain now for free! (Optional power-ups may also be purchased for real money.)
1. Tutorial: 1-1

**Free to Play**

1.1 - Emma

* * *

><p><em>'It couldn't be true, could it?'<em> Emma thought as she absently elbowed her favorite loser out of the way. _'There's no way you can get powers that easily.'_

Yet the mere suggestion of it was too tantalizing to dismiss. It looked like a joke at first. Some random person posting an ad in the Brockton Bay section of Parahumans Online about being able to obtain powers. No one believed it, just like no one believed in those ridiculous conspiracy theories about the Case 53's. People gained powers by going through a tragedy, something which changed you, made you stronger in a fundamental level. Her best friend Sophia never talked much about her circumstances, but Emma gathered enough about it that it must have deeply scarred her being.

Still, Emma wanted to become a parahuman too. She wanted it so badly. It would be a dream to be able to do more than listen to Sophia's adventures. How wonderful would it be to stand side-by-side with Shadow Stalker, kicking ass and cleaning up the filth that scurried through the streets? The more she thought about it, the more she was determined to chase this possibility.

The redhead waited until she had computer class. Not even bothering to look up at her assignment, she opened the browser and visited the PHO boards. She checked the Brockton Bay section, only to find out the thread's been locked by Tin_Mother for offering false advertising. No matter. She could still contact the original poster via a private message.

**RealBeauty**: Hello? i read your topic about getting powers, and im interested. Is it really true u can give others powers?

Having sent her message, Emma prepared to close the browser and turn back to her assignment. Before she did so, she received a reply. _'That fast?'  
><em>  
><strong>Free2Play<strong>: Everything I laid out in that topic is true. I can grant powers to anyone. Nothing too powerful, mind you, so don't get your hopes up about becoming the next Alexandria. I think you'll likely get a rating of 2 or 3 in a random classification in the PRT's threat assessment scale. No promises though.

**RealBeauty**: And u said u cant choose what powers i get, right?

**Free2Play**: I can't do that.

**RealBeauty**: bummer

**Free2Play**: Well no one has ever been able to pick their powers, so you're not missing out on anything in the first place. Just give it a try. It's absolutely free. I don't charge anything for my services.

While Emma knew better than to believe someone blindly over the internet, there wasn't any harm in following this up.

**RealBeauty**: Cool. But that's not the whole story rite? What do u get out of it?

**Free2Play**: It doesn't have to be once. I can do it again. And again. Every time I do it, you get a little stronger. But it also drains a little more out of me. So I've decided the first time is free, but after that I want something for my trouble. You have to understand that I got to pay the bills too.

This sounded rather reasonable. If Emma had the same powers, she would have charged people money for the first time as well, but who was she to question a gift horse in the mouth?

**RealBeauty**: that's great! So that means I can just meet up with u and get only 1 application and that's it? I don't have to come back to you for maintenance or refueling or something?

**Free2Play**: Nope. There's no strings attached. You don't have to spend a dime if you don't want to.

That really cinched it. Emma _had_ to meet this Free2Play and see if she could actually gain powers. There was no harm in it even if Free2Play was talking out of his ass.

**RealBeauty**: ok, im convinced. lets meet.

Emma had some sense to determine a time and place somewhere public. She wasn't about to be led in some dark alleyway and be kidnapped by a bunch of ABBers. _'Tomorrow. It's going to happen tomorrow! I can't wait!'_

* * *

><p>Her day passed in a blur, and she went through school the next morning with nothing else but powers in her mind. What would she get after her meeting? Would she be able to shoot out lasers like New Wave? Become a speedster like Velocity? But then she shook her head. <em>'I shouldn't get my hopes up. This guy warned me I wouldn't become strong enough to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Lung.'<em>

Still, gaining enough strength to to beat up gang members with ease was all she wanted out of this deal. If she was lucky, she'd be strong enough to equal Shadow Stalker, but even if she came short she would still be useful in some way. _'I can't wait until I show Sophia what I can do. Then I'll be a real predator like she always says I am.'_

After school was out, she bid Madison and Sophia goodbye and went straight to the bus. Though the meeting was scheduled well over an hour later, Emma just couldn't restrain herself from arriving early. The old fountain at the edge of the Boardwalk was perhaps the least popular part of the landmark. That it was situated close to the entrance of the now-defunct ferry didn't help much in the matter. Still, a couple of tourists still wandered a bit too far before they got the hint to turn back, so it wasn't as if she was completely alone here. It was a safe, out of the way location that still looked sufficiently public for her to call for help if she needed it. _'If this is real, then I'll step out of this place as a new parahuman.'_

Sitting down at a nearby bench, she tapped a foot and waited for the hour to go by. Since she still had a half hour to go, she walked back and bought herself an ice cream cone to pass the time. When that disappeared in her nervous stomach, she had to count down the remaining minutes in unbearable impatience.

Finally someone else arrived who didn't look like a tourist. The newcomer didn't look like a cape, nor did he look like a vagrant or something else. Despite the mild chill and the temperate weather, this tall person was bedecked in layers and layers of old and unremarkable clothes. A hoodie and scarf along with thick reflective snowboarding goggles completely obscured the head. Frankly, the fashionista in Emma was abhorred by the look, but the girl pushed it down as much as possible in favor of the purpose of the meeting.

"Are you.. Free2Play?"

The newcomer nodded, and spoke with a voice that very clearly came from some kind of voice distortion gadget. "That I am."

The voice, despite its artificial garbling, still sounded minutely feminine. Now that she thought about it, Emma could imagine that the person underneath all those layers was a woman. Well, who really cares whether the power giver was a man or a woman. "So... I don't have to do anything, do I?"

"You have nothing to worry about." Free2Play said as she removed a thick mitten from one of her spindly hands. "I only have to hold your hand, and it will be over in a minute. Now before I begin, are you absolutely sure you want to proceed? You can't undo the changes I will make, and you'll be stuck with your powers for the rest of your life. I haven't tested it but I suspect you won't ever be able to become a parahuman the natural way. Do you have any second thoughts?"

"I... I'm sure." Emma's resolve was as hard as steel by now. "I've tried so long to become a cape. If taking a shortcut means giving up a more powerful ability that I might never get, then I'll gladly take it."

Sophia never described to Emma the sensation of gaining powers. Considering all the drama that involved trigger events, it must not have been very pleasant. Perhaps it was something painful no one would ever want to live it again. Perhaps it was something so ethereal that no one really understood what they just subjected their minds and bodies to.

Emma experienced neither of those two possibilities. Instead, she experienced what in her limited life could only describe as Nirvana. Pure ecstasy shuddered through her veins as some otherworldly wave of power flowed from her hand, down her arm, and spread throughout the rest of her body. Her heart throbbed in excitement, her stomach growled in satisfaction and her brain radiated a moment of such complete zen that she felt as if she was a god.

Paradise didn't even compare to the sensations that thrummed inside Emma's being. With a child-like wonder she felt the energy probe her organs, sometimes passing them over but other times rearranging a few things here and there. The energies were practically rewriting her body on the spot, breaking the boundaries of what is human in order to go beyond. The whispers of angels caressed her ears, and Emma imagined they told her how strong she was, and how much stronger she would become after the changes have made their course.

She woke up a couple of minutes later. The waves of pleasure left her body and mind far too soon. For a second, Emma wasn't sure it was all real. What if this woman merely drugged her? But then she felt it. The thrums of power, though a pale reflection of what she experienced before, still sang throughout her being. Not sure what she was doing, she held out a hand and pushed the current out of it. Tiny drops of lights escaped from her palm and started to fly around her. Her mouth opened in amazement. _'They're beautiful!'_

Like a child seeing fireworks for the first time, Emma marveled at the dozens of tiny stars that zipped around her in a globe. They flickered occasionally but shone bright even in the middle of the day. Some were blueish. Others green. More were yellow. They came in all the colors of the rainbow and she instinctively figured they possessed different capabilities. With a nudge of her mind, she sent a green one into the pavement before her feet.

It winked out without any further effect. Frowning, Emma plinked the same spot with a yellow orb instead.

That produced a small _crack_ that broke the stone and showered her feet with pebbles. Though Emma yelped backwards from the explosion, she quickly forgot about it and instead grinned with satisfaction. That Free2Play woman was right. She had _powers_ now! Even more, if her hunch was correct and each color had a different effect, then perhaps she got more than one different 'power' out of the exchange. Sophia wouldn't be able to shrug her off now!

After making sure nobody had paid attention to her shenanigans, Emma left the Boardwalk and headed back home. She had a lot to do before she could step onto the streets. She needed a costume, a mask, a name, and much, much more. Already she juggled half-a-dozen costume designs in her mind. Procuring the right materials would cost her a pretty dime, but she refused to go out into the streets with a bulky hoodie and jeans. Emma smirked. _'I'm in this to win.'_


	2. Tutorial: 1-2

**Free to Play**

1.2 - Emma

* * *

><p>Gaining powers from Free2Play was the best decision of Emma's life. Sure, she couldn't fly like Purity or take hits like Aegis. But by conjuring her tiny orbs of lights, she was undoubtedly a cape. It took a big chunk of her clothing allowance and a liberal recycling of her older clothes to fashion a costume that would at least measure up to Glory Girl's outfit. For her debut she went for a red ensemble, with stylishly high boots but leaving her hair exposed, though tied in an elaborate style to distinguish herself from her daily self.<p>

She hadn't figured out all of their effects yet. So far, the yellow ones caused potentially lethal explosions while the green ones appeared to do nothing. Using orbs between yellow and green in color appeared to mute the impact, enough to knock people out without killing them. Blue ones zapped people while purple ones exploded into light. She couldn't make the lights smaller or bigger, nor could she vary the intensity of their effects. Still, as Firefly, she had no trouble zapping and knocking the thugs that roamed the streets.

Case in point. Emma ground her boots into the palm of the thoroughly zapped ABB ganger. This was her third night of going out solo and so far she had acquitted herself well against the riffraff of the Docks. The thug screamed out what was no doubt a bunch of expletives in Mandarin.

"Fucking trash. When you wake up in prison, tell the authorities that Firefly is making the streets safe now." She spat, and plinked another orb to knock out the man.

The next day, Emma decided she had done enough to prove she was a predator. Ignoring Taylor's pitiful form, she went straight to her BFF with a smile. "Morning Sophia!"

The dark-skinned teen gave her an irritated glance as she yawned. "What is it, Emma?"

"I.. I've got something important to show you after school. Do you have time today?"

"The Wards are riding on my ass, but whatever. As long as it won't take too long, I can get to the Wards in time to start my patrol."

Emma couldn't wait to show off her powers to Sophia. Her classes trudged along in a snail's pace as she tried to anticipate how well she'd be receive. Will Sophia chuckle at her and make light of her weak powers? Or would she acknowledge her as an equal and accept some joint patrols? Oh Emma could just imagine how that would go. She'd be the support, bombarding the criminal scum from afar while Shadow Stalker would go hand-to-hand and kick their asses directly. The both of them possessed enough power and range to take care of most minor threats.

_'But it won't be enough..'  
><em>  
>Despite Sophia's frequent complaints, Emma seriously considered joining the Wards more than once. <em>'I can be together with Sophia more. Maybe we can even go on a double date with the other Wards!'<br>_  
>Those daydreams were enough to last Emma throughout the day. Ruining Taylor's lunch was also a welcome distraction. <em>'Taylor's even weaker now that I'm a hero. I can't believe I could ever be a friend to a weakling like her.'<em>

As the last school bell rang, Emma said goodbye to Madison and glanced at Sophia. "Let's go somewhere more quiet."

The pair of queen bees slipped through the halls with ease, as most students made way for the pair of girls. Emma led her friend a few streets away from Winslow's campus, ending up at a dead end in an unremarkable alleyway.

"Alright, so what's the big deal?"

"Let me show you Sophia." Emma grinned and she withdrew her domino mask from her purse and set it on her face.

Sophia's eyes widened. "You-"

"I've got powers." The redhead grinned and stretched out her palm, releasing a kaleidoscope of fireflies that peacefully orbited around her proud shape. As Sophia gawked at them with stunned amazement, Emma briefly showcased their effects, letting them crash against a wall.

"Since when did you become a cape?" Sophia asked softly, now that she got past her surprise.

"Five days now. I spent most of that time on my costume. Oh, you should see it!"

"You triggered five days ago? How come I haven't heard or noticed anything from you?"

Emma frowned a little. This was a more difficult question. "To be honest, I didn't trigger like you did. You could say I found someone on PHO offering to give other people powers. I just followed it up, met a woman, and she gave me the ability to-"

A snarl of rage escaped from Sophia's mouth. Emma blinked once, then found a pair of tight hands grab her jacket and slam her against the wall.

"Are you fucking KIDDING me?! You.. you BOUGHT your powers from the internet?"

"I got them for free. The woman said the first time was free."

Sophia let out an incomprehensible growl of frustration. "That's fucking worse! You.. you shitty little.."

To Emma's relief, Sophia lost enough of her steam to realize she was hurting her friend. Letting go, Sophia turned her back and ground her teeth. "This shit is fucked up. Do you know how much I suffered before I got my powers? How much shit I had to go through?"

"Sophia, I don't know what's wrong. Just because I didn't have a trigger event doesn't mean I'm not a cape."

"You know nothing! Nothing, Emma! Capes like me, _real_ capes that is, we understand each other, you see? Everyone knows that everyone who has powers had once lived a day that was so shitty, they wouldn't wish it to their worst enemies. We all lived through such a time and that makes us have something in common. Heroes, rogues, villains, we all lived through shit and survived. No, not just survive, but we came out _stronger_ in the end."

Emma's eyes widened. "So I'm still weak even though I have powers because I miss one single thing? Is that it?"

"You don't know jack shit!" Sophia hissed, and walked away, not willing to deal with this any longer. "You know what? Forget about heroing. Leave your stupid tricks at home. Anyone with a brain is going to gun you down in an instant despite your worthless powers."

The redhead stood in the alley silently with absent tears leaking from her eyes. She was certain Sophia would accept her. Firefly was the perfect companion to Shadow Stalker. That Sophia would hang up on her because she hadn't lived through a trigger event was so stupid! Wasn't her ordeal when she first met Shadow Stalker enough of a trauma to qualify? She seriously thought the ABB girl would mar her beauty!

With a sullen mood, Emma belatedly left the alley and went home. Throughout dinner and the period after, the girl kept rethinking her meeting with Sophia. How would she be able to change her friend's mind? _'She keeps dismissing my fireflies. Maybe that's it. Sophia's not convinced I can keep up with the other capes.'_

The more Emma thought about it, the more she became convinced of her reasoning. Trigger events made people stronger. Since Emma lacked one, Sophia wouldn't acknowledge her strength. _'Sophia's also right in one thing. I don't have any defense against guns.'  
><em>  
>Thoroughly bummed out, Emma skipped slipping out at night for another foray into the streets. Instead, she tried to think up a way to change Sophia's mind. Sadly, the one thing she could come up with was to find a way to become stronger, strong enough that Sophia couldn't ignore Emma's prowess as a hero.<p>

It wasn't as if her current level of strength was fixed like most other capes. _'Free2Play mentioned she can make me stronger... at a cost.'  
><em>  
>With a twinkling of her fireflies, Emma drifted off into sleep.<p>

* * *

><p>Sophia still hadn't gotten over Emma's revelation the next day. Even when Emma approached her friend, she merely gotten a growl and a brushoff in return. That left her meeting Madison's worried eyes. "It's nothing. Just a disagreement, that's all."<p>

"Okay, Ems."

This time, she couldn't wait until computer class was next. Emma zipped towards PHO and sent another message to her benefactor.

**RealBeauty**: hey, u still there? i got something to ask of u

Just like last time, it took only a minute for a reply to get back.

**Free2Play**: Oh hello. Are you enjoying your powers? Nothing wrong so far?

**RealBeauty**: they're great. but...

**Free2Play**: You want more, is that right?

**RealBeauty**: it's really great you gave me powers, im very thankful for that. but yeah, if it's not much trouble, can i ask if you can make me stronger somehow? i reaaaaallllyy need more.

A minute passed.

**Free2Play**: I can do that, but it's different from the first time. The first time is just a spark. It doesn't take any effort. But working on a power I've already granted is a different matter. It's harder. More exhausting. I can't do it often. So it'll cost you.

Emma expected that. She had her credit card ready. She was willing to max out her credit card and empty her allowance if she had to.

**RealBeauty**: name ur price

Another minute passed. Then Free2Play named a four-figure price.

**RealBeauty**: that much! thats more than than

**Free2Play**: Trust me, it's worth it. You'll definitely get stronger, I guarantee you.

**RealBeauty**: butbut whow will i get that kind of cash im just a teenager u know

**Free2Play**: You got powers now, remember? Why don't you rob a few people? You'll get that money in no time.

**RealBeauty**: IM A HERO

**Free2Play**: Well same thing. Vigilante law allows you to 'liberate' cash from the criminals you apprehend. Here's the parawiki link on that.

Why hadn't she thought about that before? Emma mentally palmed her face. Still, she didn't imagine the average street thug was swimming in dollars. She needed to get that power-up fast before Sophia cut ties with her forever.

**RealBeauty**: cmon cut me some slack. im your first customr or one of your firsts. cant u give me a discount or something?

Emma wrung her hands as she waited for Free2Play's reply. If she couldn't get a discount.. she'd have to steal her mother's credit card.. or pawn her jewelry..

**Free2Play**: Alright. I'm having trouble setting up my business. The stupid mods keep deleting my posts. So let me offer you a deal. I'll slash the price in half if you do two things for me.

**RealBeauty**: and that is?

**Free2Play**: After I boost your powers, you go back to PHO and you start a new topic. Prove to everyone that I'm real and I'm not bullshitting my services. Think of it as a review.

Was that all? That was nothing!

**RealBeauty**: no problem! i'll be sure to give u 5 stars!

**Free2Play**: And to make sure the mods don't think I'm sockpuppeting or something, I also want you bring someone else with you who wants powers. I'll give him or her the same freebie that you received. Hopefully your friend's word along with your own will be enough to convince the mods I'm not crazy.

That.. was something different. _'Bring someone else?'_

The redhead never really considered sharing this find with anyone else. She only pursued it to go heroing with Sophia. If she brought someone else.. it would have to be someone she could trust with her current hero identity. That really left one other person...

_'Madison always shied away from cape life.'  
><em>  
>Trying to convince her more innocent friend in taking the plunge to become a hero was not going to be an easy task by far. Yet Emma felt confident enough she could overcome this challenge. That 50 percent discount was too tempting a deal for Emma to let slip from her hands.<p>

**RealBeauty**: ok, u got urself a deal. ill refer a friend to u and bring her with me next time.

After setting a time and place for the next meeting, Emma logged off and waited until classes were over. Sophia brushed her off like usual, but that would change soon enough. Emma bee-lined her way over to Madison's locker and found her target in question changing her book.

"Oh hey Emma, you look happier than usual. Did you make up with Sophia yet?"

"Uhm, no, not yet, but I found a way to do so, but I need your help."

Madison looked a little skeptical. "Uh, okay."

Grinning, Emma embraced her friend on the shoulder and led her out of the school. "Tell me Mads, have you ever wanted to play with the big girls?"


	3. Tutorial: 1-3

**Free to Play**

1.3 - Sophia

* * *

><p>Sophia knew there was something wrong with Emma. Getting powers was one thing. If Emma triggered the usual way, Sophia would have felt a measure of kinship for her friend. But now? Seeing Emma dressed up in that ridiculously frilly Firefly getup, grinning as if there was nothing wrong in the world? She hadn't learned her lesson.<p>

"Sophia, I'm stronger now." Emma said, eager to impress. She held out a globe of green and slapped it into her forearm. "I can shield myself from damage now. You don't have to worry anymore about keeping me safe."

Grinding her teeth, Sophia glanced at Madison, who was standing a bit off-ways. "What's she doing here, Emma? Don't tell me.."

"She's got powers too now! Come on, Mads, show her."

"Are you sure? Sophia doesn't look like she wants to see."

Frowning slightly, Emma pushed Madison forward. "You're a hero now, Madison. You got to show your goods."

"Okay." With a look of concentration, Madison glowed for a second. Then some sort of clone of light stepped out of her body. The clone turned around, held out its fists, then slapped them onto Madison's waiting palm. It then disappeared after a few more seconds. "I can make a clone of myself and program it to do stuff."

"Cool huh?" Emma said and gave Madison an appraising smirk. "I've already got _tons_ of pranks planned out."

Yet even as they giggled, Sophia continued to steam in silence. The two girls grew a little worried at the lack of reaction. "So what do you think?"

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" The dark-skinned teen whispered. She took a single, solid step forward. "Am I supposed to welcome you to my side? FUCK! You haven't learned a thing last time you showed me your stupid powers."

Emma looked completely taken aback. "I don't understand. I got stronger. I can still get stronger. If it's not enough, I'll keep working at it and-"

"Shut up." Sophia growled, now glaring holes at her two friends. "You think this is some kind of game? Some kind of hobby you can just pick up? Becoming a cape is more than just going online and ordering a power or two. Fuck man, I thought I made it clear. I don't care if you buy your way to the Triumvirate. You haven't earned all that power, not the way I have and Armsmaster have or even that little miss prissy Vista have. We all lived through the worst hell imaginable and survived long enough for God or whoever's the fuck in charge to reward us with the power to come out stronger. I _earned_ my cape. I can't say the same about you two."

Surprisingly enough, Madison was the more accepting of the two. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize.. we were making a mockery out of the true heroes."

"We just wanted to see what it's like." Emma let out downtrodden as she brushed away tear. If Sophia hadn't seen her do it a dozen times before the cape would have fallen for it. "You always talked about how we were strong and the rest were weak, but I never really felt like we were in the same league. Now that Madison and I got powers, you don't need to protect us anymore. Does it really matter how we got them in the first place?"

"Shit, I don't fucking care anymore." The dark teen spat. "Go play at being heroes for all I care. But don't come crying to me when you lose a limb or two."

Sophia just had to get away from all this shit. Ignoring the blaring from her PRT-issued cell phone, she changed into her Shadow Stalker costume and roamed the familiar rooftops of her city. She had to clear her mind and think.

The world was getting more fucked up if some random shit from the street can become a two-bit cape at the click of a mouse.

And who was this woman Emma mentioned that gave out powers in the first place? There was something shady about this whole deal if this power giver gave out powers for free. In a way, just giving them out without a penny rankled Shadow Stalker the most. Gaining powers sometimes literally cost people an arm and a leg. The ability to go above human limits and enter the realm of gods always exacted a heavy price from parahumans. It was no wonder there were so many villains. People got fucked up when they got their powers, pure and simple.

Emma - let alone Madison - hadn't lived through nearly enough shit to play in the big leagues. They were both winners in their own way, or otherwise Sophia wouldn't have wasted her time befriending them in the first place. But just because they were social princesses didn't mean they were allowed to intrude upon her turf.

It had to be a sham, there was no other explanation. The woman who handed out powers like candy had to be some kind of trump thinking she could swindle a few rich kids out of their parents' savings. Well if Shadow Stalker had anything to say about it, the scheme would end with a crossbow bolt right through a limb. _'I gotta stop this before Emma gets in too deep.'_

First she had to track down the creep. Shadow Stalker ignored her PRT issued phone and brought up her fancier smartphone instead. She spent a few minutes searching for any sites that offered powers for free, but the only results she got back were obvious crackpots and scam artists with the occasional televangelist thrown in. _'No dice here. Maybe I need to narrow my search results to Brockton Bay.'_

That led to a forum topic in PHO of all things. Sophia was about to swipe her screen to dismiss it until she read a little closer. _'Fuck.. this matches exactly with what Emma claimed.'_

The Free2Play chick had balls for advertising her services so brazenly. Claiming not only to give normal people powers, but giving out the first transfer for free? Like most others who replied, Sophia wanted to cry bullshit. A moderator closed the topic for exactly that reason.

Only for another moderator to unlock the topic today. Something about having reason to believe Free2Play's claims actually have a gem of truth. Sophia tapped at the supposed proof.

Her stomach sunk at the stupidity that appeared on the screen.

* * *

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** Topic: Free2Play isn't lying! I got a superpower for free for REAL!**

**In: Boards ► Boards ► Places ► America ► Brockton Bay Discussion (Public Board)**

**Firefly** (Original Poster) (Unverified Cape)

Posted on Februari 22, 2011:

I know a lotta you guys dont believe Free2Plays claim that she is giving out powers for free in her topic, but she isn't lying! I didn't even have to swallow some pills or drink something stinky, she just touched me for a minute and IT WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE. I didn't have to pay at all, just as she promised. The second dose was a bit expensive, I admit, but its totallly worth it, I got really stronger. Free2PLay was totally polite and honest and I give her 5 stars ! (out of 5 stars for u stupids out there)

If you still don't believe me, I got my friend to back me up over here. She got powers out of it too without paying a single cent! Anyone who still don't believe us is a fool for letting superpowers pass u by.

**(Showing Page 2 of 8)**

**►**XxVoid_CowboyxX****

Replied on Februari 22, 2011:

Werlp, I'm convinced. Keep my (Verified Cape) tag warm for me Tin_Mother!

**Winged_One**

Replied on February 22, 2011:

If Void Cowboy becomes a cape, I don't want to live in this world anymore.

* * *

><p><em>'This is so fucking great. What a way to announce how fake you are to the world, Emma.' <em>Shadow Stalker palmed her face. If the Protectorate had any sense they would soon be cracking down on this bitch. Maybe Emma and Madison too for that matter. _'I want to have a couple of words with her first before I bust her ass.'_

Sophia was smart enough not to use her Shadow Stalker handle. Instead, she fiddled with the tiny screen so she could make a new account. From there it was easy enough to pm Free2Play and ask for a free power.

**fisttotheface**: so can we meet tomorrow

**Free2Play**: My schedule is full tomorrow. I have a lot of new customers. How about the day after that?

**fisttotheface**: fine

**fisttotheface**: same time and place ok right

**Free2Play**: Sure. I'll look forward to our session.

_'Not as much as I will once I punch your face in.' _Shadow Stalker grinned as she put away her cell phone. Having decided she put off her responsibilities long enough, she made her way to the PRT headquarters in order to report for duty. _'Emma's gonna get angry for me if she finds out what I'm up to, but I don't care.'_

Emma had no idea what she was toying with by flaunting her powers like that. Her deep pockets wouldn't save her forever once she bites something more than she can chew. Sophia was just looking out for her friends and the city by getting to the bottom of this matter. She was going to shut this operation down before it can get off. The last thing Brockton Bay needed was a flood of amateurs playing at heroes or worse, engaging in villainy. Unlike those mail-order capes, Shadow Stalker intended to play for keeps.


	4. Tutorial: 1-4

**Free to Play**

1.4 - Sophia

* * *

><p>Shadow Stalker knelt on the rooftop overlooking a plaza somewhere downtown. The park had been a fairly recent construction when the city still maintained its delusion of being a major port. Most of the plaza was paved with spotted stone, their luster mostly faded away by a local government strapped for cash. The few trees here and there stood impassively as the cold season had not yet yielded to the warmth of spring. A faux-boutique coffee shop served the few businessmen still finishing up their overpriced lunches.<p>

_'I bet they're all fuckers with too much money to spare. They aren't even batting an eye at spending five bucks for a shitty cup of coffee.'_

The thought of these same clueless men - who probably never had to lift a single finger in their entire life - being able to buy a superpower as easy as a cup of coffee rankled Sophia immensely. People didn't know any better. No one - not even Emma and Madison - had any clue what shit they were dealing with when they bought a power.

Too many dummies were seduced by the glitz and glamour of superheroes. The PRT's marketing machine had the entire world fooled that heroism was all about stupid ideals like 'doing good' or that 'great power comes with great responsibility'. Whoever strangled the creator of Spider-Man deserved a medal. Too bad the Earth Aleph counterpart still lived.

Actual cape life was nothing like in the comics or movies. Parahumans had to live through a hell so bad that they broke something inside of them. Very often it puts people through their very limits and beyond in order to survive such a day. After that, capes realize they had too much power on their hands to be able to live a life that resembled something normal.

A cape costume wasn't a way to conceal yourself, or a fashion statement like Emma liked to think. They were prison uniforms. A way for the government to keep all those human timebombs firmly under their thumb. The whole charade of playing cops and robbers was nothing more than a way for their little puppets to focus their destructive firepower on each other instead of unleashing it to the rest of the world.

Sophia didn't hold any delusions about her role in life. She was a wolf that hunted among wolves. Sure, the PRT eventually cornered her and forced her to don sheep's clothing, but that didn't change the fact that her powers were meant to track, to stalk, and most of all, to kill. You could no more change her conviction to hunt than you could turn a wolf into a puppy.

_'Just a few more minutes more.'_ Sophia thought impatiently as she prepped her crossbow. She reached for her quiver and lovingly slid her fingers across the bolts. She hovered between her PRT-issued tranquilizer bolts and her more lethal bolts, unable to decide. Then she made her choice. '_I'm not going to hide my fangs today.'_

With mechanical precision, she cocked her bolt and waited for her target to come into sight. Then, she settled in to wait.

Free2Play arrived just in time. From Emma's description, the cape was a woman clad in so many layers of clothes even a penguin would freeze sooner than her. Since that last sighting, the fucking woman spent no time putting her new-found wealth to use. The woman wore a sharp business suit - likely tailored - under a hooded, fur-lined winter jacket. Heck, if she wasn't concealing her face with a scarf, she'd fit right in with the other scam artists working downtown.

Most if not all of the people had left by now. No one else came at this time of day even after she waited two minutes past the appointment. _'It's showtime.'_

With practiced ease, Shadow Stalker jumped from the rooftop and let the air sweep past her body. The sheer speed and terrifying drop exhilarated her nerves. Just half-a-second before she would splatter against the ground, she turned intangible, letting her dark, shadowed mass impact the plaza with nothing more than an imaginary bump as her outline flattened for a tiny moment only to turn back to her normal contour.

Still in her shadow state, the Ward swept forwards while keeping low to the ground. She passed through chairs and tables with prowling ease, only to come up to the woman from behind.

It was child's play to materialize with an arm already over the cape's neck. To her credit, Free2Play only struggled for a couple of seconds before she felt the crossbow pressed to the head.

"Do I have an appointment with you?" The woman asked as if she was talking about the weather. The effect was kind of ruined by the harshness of the voice distorter.

"You're that Free2Play bitch aren't you?"

"I prefer Freebie outside the forums." Her captive nodded, prompting Shadow Stalker to drag them both out of the chair. She needed a more private place to conduct her interrogation. Luckily enough the alley behind the coffee shop offered plenty cover. Sophia pushed the bitch against the wall and turned her around, keeping the cape in place with the tip of her crossbow pressed against the neck.

"Shadow Stalker? But.. you're a hero. I've done nothing wrong."

"Don't fuck with me. All this sneaking about, avoiding the Protectorate, giving everyone and their two-year old kid a free superpower, don't tell me you're not aware of all the shit you're unleashing to the city."

"I'm not committing any crime." The woman stated. "I don't know of any law that forbids people from making other people parahumans."

Fear continued to radiate from Freebie, though she wasn't outright panicking like most of Shadow Stalker's playthings. That was annoying. _'I got to work the bitch over.'_

She withdrew her crossbow, only to knock the bitch with the stock. "Don't fucking play with me you greedy skank. You're ripping idiots off who have _no_ clue what to do with superpowers. When you keep handing out powers like this, it's only a matter of time when bodies start falling! It's not a game!"

Freebie silently parsed the words and made a careful reply. "Isn't it already a game? A closed game, where only a select few people chosen by fate are allowed to participate? Why do only a handful of people like Kaiser, or Lung, or _you_ get to play around with powers while the rest have to sit on our hands and clap? It's well-past time that monopoly ends. We need more heroes in this world, not less."

This time Sophia didn't bother with the stock. She knocked the bitch with her fist. "Don't dress this up like you're running an honest business. You're _using_ your customers. You'll happily shove a power at them and let them loose against villains with hardly any training. I bet it warms your heart to have so many suckers in line waiting to get ripped off, not even caring if half of them ends up dead next year."

"That's not true!" Freebie yelled, pushing back physically for once. "I need the money. If nothing else, the prices I set separate the real heroes from the casual people. Only those who are the most dedicated to justice get to be the strongest."

"And what if they're villains? What if you are funding the men and women I have to FIGHT someday because you're too fucking GREEDY for cash to turn down dirty money?"

"I'm not planning to do so at all! Look, maybe a few of the people who receive powers for free intend to go villain. But I never intend to reward them with additional boosts."

Sophia glared murderously at Freebie. "Right. But I bet you won't lose any sleep if you hand out powers to every single ABB and E88 gang member in the city. Your little moneybags - I mean superheroes - need a couple of hundred punching bags to practice their powers on. Otherwise they won't come crying back to you for another fix."

Freebie didn't reply to the accusation. Perhaps she was too tired to argue, or perhaps Sophia hit it right in the bullseye. Whatever the case, she had enough now. it was time to wrap up this farce of an interrogation.

"Now what will I do with you?"

"You could let me go."

The Ward let out a disdainful snort. "As if."

Shadow Stalker wanted to do nothing more than to kill Freebee. She looked forward to it as soon as she knocked a lethal arrow on her crossbow. Yet... _'The bitch doesn't deserve it. She's not a villain. Just a profiteer.'_

"I'm going to let the PRT sort you out." Shadow Stalker decided not entirely enthusiastically. She was half-afraid the authorities would abuse Freebie's power-granting abilities instead of reining them in. "Let's see if you're still whistling your tune once Piggy has a word with you. Now move."

"One moment, Shadow Stalker."

Freebie's eyes bored into her captor's. One hand reached up and gently grasped the wrist that continued to hold Freebie's neck against the wall. Sophia regretted loading her crossbow with a normal bolt. If she had loaded it with a tranq, she would have already knocked out this bitch.

"You're making a mistake." Freebie said.

"I'm sure the PRT can figure out some charges to keep you locked up." Sophia replied flippantly.

"Not that kind of mistake. The other one."

"What."

"You let me touch you."

The entire world shut down for Sophia.

* * *

><p>Piggot rapped her knuckles against her desk. Her annoyed expression merely hinted at the depth of her anger at her Ward's latest transgression. "Good day Sophia. Now can you tell me <em>what<em> you were thinking?"

The teen sat sullenly at the other side of the desk, her dirtied costume still on but her mask pulled down. She couldn't believe she'd been so stupid to let that fucking Freebie get the drop on her. Sophia should have known the cape was a Striker and that she might be able to do more than just empowering people.

The armored hand resting on her shoulder squeezed just a tiny bit. "Will you fucking lay off me, Armsmaster? I just need a moment, sheesh."

Sighing, the heavyset director palmed her face. "Since you are clearly incapable of exercising even a microscopic amount of caution and forethought let alone following proper procedure, let me spell out how badly you screwed up!"

_'Oh this is going to be good.'_ Sophia thought half-sincerely as she braced herself for another lecture.

"Did you think we were unaware of what is happening in our own city? When someone online claims she can grant powers at a touch, and has a few people backing up that statement, don't you think this gets flagged to the _very_ top of the Protectorate and PRT?"

"I thought old fossils like you can barely send an e-mail, let alone browse the PHO boards."

Piggot refused to be baited so easily, to Sophia's disappointment. "Don't you smart-mouth me, young lady. You are already in enough trouble as it is! I have been in constant correspondence upstairs, to Director Costa-Brown herself taking a personal interest in this matter. A couple of our thinkers have determined that Free2Play-"

"She prefers Freebie."

"Ahem." Piggot glared. "Free2Play, for reasons of her own, is extremely reticent in associating herself with the Protectorate. It has taken us this long already to form a tentative plan of action. We unanimously agreed it would take a _delicate_ touch to warm this potential trump to our organisation. A course of action completely rendered moot because _you_ decided to jump the gun and take matters into your own insipid hands!"

Shadow Stalker shrugged, having stopped caring about anything at all sometime during the rant. "Freebie's too shady to play ball. I did you a favor."

"...Enough. It seems you are too immature to realize how much trouble you've caused us." Piggot waved her hand as if to shoo away a piece of trash. "Since you are acting too much like a child, you're grounded. As of now, you are off the patrol schedule. Anytime you are not at school and, you are going to run control and help your other Wards behind the monitors. Oh, and you can also consider your name on the Winslow track team roster crossed out."

Sophia's blase attitude vaporized in an instant. "What the fuck?! You're taking me off the track team? You.. You..."

"That's enough Shadow Stalker." Armsmaster said as he dragged the Ward up her feet and guided her towards the exit.


	5. Tutorial: 1-5

**Free to Play**

1.5 - Madison

* * *

><p>At first, Madison thought her power kind of sucked. In order to even activate it, she had to visualize her intent, and the clone of glowing yellow light that appeared from her body would act them. They couldn't touch her, not could they touch each other, but to the rest of the world, the projections were solid. The clones lasted only a few seconds at most, so that meant she had to get pretty close to the bad guys in order to fight.<p>

Only after experimenting with her powers for a couple of hours did she learn a couple of important points. First, her clones lasted longer or shorter if they were carrying out more complex instructions. She could make a clone that would lash out a punch last only a fraction of a second, while making another clone last up to twenty seconds crossing the street. Second, she could maintain multiple clones at a time, but after a half-a-dozen more she started to get too much of a headache to pump out more. All in all, it didn't even take a girl like Madison very long how to make the best use out of her powers.

"You look good Mads!" Her friend Emma greeted her with a glomp. "I like the mask. You look just like a doll. Is it a custom job?"

Madison fingered her porcelain-like visage. "Thanks. I used one of my old presents in my attic to come up with this. I'm too new to this to feel comfortable hiding my face with only a domino mask like you."

"You don't need to worry. No one will recognize us." Emma smirked confidently. "Everyone we beat up will only remember us as Firefly and Radiant."

Just the thought of 'beating' up men who might weight twice as much as her still set her stomach ill at ease. A large part of her brain screamed at her that it was stupid to pick a fight with criminals. Meek little Madison Clements would never even think of walking in the bad part of town at night.

But now.. her power changed the equation. She could do things no one else could do, and she was eager to flex her new strength. While Madison Clements couldn't throw a punch to save her life, Radiant.. could. _'It's still scary though.'_

"Well, looks like everything's good to go. Let's go on patrol."

Sadly, the pair lacked the power to fly, let alone access to a cool tinkertech vehicle. Not that they'd be driving anyway, since they didn't have their driver's license yet. Even taking the bus was out: the driver would laugh at the sight of a hero needing a ride.

"This is embarrassing." Madison muttered as she shied away from the stares of a housewife and his son across the street. "I wonder how other heroes manage it."

Firefly scratched her head, though not enough to upset her hairdo. "Hm, we should have taken the bus before changing into our costumes next time."

Only when they left the good part of town and entered a less well-to-do neighborhood did they stop looking like a pair of girls on cosplay. They were heroes now, so Madison consciously straightened her posture. _'Heroes are supposed to look the part.'_

"So.. where are the bad guys?" Madi-, no Radiant asked. "You said you caught some gang members last time. Where are they?"

"Um I just walked around until I saw some lights down an alleyway."

With no better idea where to go, they entered the worn out streets built in an age when the city fared better. Bountiful trade and plenty of production attracted all manner of men and women to work in Brockton Bay. But with the global depression Leviathan forced upon the world, the apartments and warehouses slowly ran empty, their former occupants moving inland for a brighter future. Much of the homes here were put to new use when the Kyushu disaster struck. Japanese refugees poured into the United States, and Brockton Bay had to give a helping hand to those whose homeland literally drowned. While most of the refugees settled in more or less without problems, they also brought.. other problems into the city, the ABB and Lung the most prominent among them. It would have been.. tolerable in any other city, but with the Empire Eighty-Eight already having a vested interest in Brockton Bay, the uneasy situation often led to explosions.

So far, they hadn't met any ABB gang members so far. Madison wondered how long it would last. "Is there a reason why you insisted on patrolling near the docks? I'm not too excited about picking a fight with the ABB. Do you know what they do to girls like us? What if we bump into Lung?"

Firefly momentarily halted in her steps. She turned very deliberately to Madison. "I'm not interested in playing dress-up. I'm interested in playing heroes. The ABB is the worst of the worst. Besides, Sophia always said that Lung rarely came out personally."

Madison frantically pressed a finger to her mouth. "Hey, careful what you say! Don't spill out the names of our friends."

"Oh sorry, Ma-, ugh, Radiant. I gotta get used to this."

After that embarrassing moment, the pair quickly resumed their patrol. Madison swept her eyes past the grimy walls and the faded windows, keeping a paranoid watch for any signs of ABB presence. Of course, at this time of night, any normal person was at home eating dinner or watching evening tv. That left the streets deserted with only stray cats to keep the girls on their toes. _'There's practically no one here. Why is it so difficult to find a thug?'_

"Did you hear Sh.. our friend.. got suspended from the track team?"

"She must have pissed off the wrong people again." Madison said with a tired voice. "She said she doesn't have time for us anymore."

"Hm. I don't need her anyway. We can do this with the two of us just fine just like we made that sniveling weakling cry during lunch today."

Madison wasn't too sure about the wisdom of patrolling by themselves, but she didn't want to ruin Emma's good mood. The brunette had worked hard getting Emma to get over Sophia's rejection. Good thing kicking that snotty Taylor around was always an easy way to lift Emma's spirit. "Besides, maybe it's a good idea we don't introduce ourselves as Shadow Stalker's sidekicks. She's a Ward anyway, and we're not."

Joining the Wards was off the table. At least for Emma. They both heard enough of Sophia's grumbling to lose their admiration over the organisation. There was also the small issue that they got their powers from a cape, not.. the natural way. If Shadow Stalker reacted badly to the news, what about the PRT? Or the Wards they would be working with? Would they all look down on the two for being spoiled brats too misguided to know any better? _'Better to prove ourselves first.'_

Still, for her first time out, she was finding hero life to be remarkably... boring. "It's already half an hour. I thought it'd be, you know, more dangerous out in the street."

Emma didn't reply. Instead she held out a hand, and peered into the upcoming alley. "There's something burning over there."

The two of them snuck closer, only to see a trio of Asian men keeping themselves warm around a burning barrel. They lacked obvious gang colors and didn't appear to do anything wrong. Yet loitering out in the cold like this at night was not what a normal person did. At least that was what Madison thought.

"So what do you think?" Radiant whispered. "They look shady, but.. they're just standing there."

Firefly scratched her head for the umpteenth time. "I don't know. They look kind of dangerous. What if they're waiting for someone to pass by in order to mug or rape them? We gotta confront them to make sure."

"W-Wait." Madison called as Firefly confidently stepped into the alley.

Their costumes definitely drew their eyes. Emma's bolder look practically flaunted what she had. Rude whistles and amused whispers loudly echoed off the alley walls. Naturally, Firefly was less than pleased at this reaction. "We're heroes of Brockton Bay. Stop what you're doing and answer my questions."

That produced laughs from the men. The Asians chatted quickly to each other in Japanese or Chinese or whatever, Madison couldn't tell the difference. This only served to make Emma angrier.

"Will you stop speaking your gobblygook and pay attention to us?"

One of the men answered with a gesture that the girls had no trouble interpreting. A big fat middle finger. The Asians laughed and turned their backs at them, deliberately ignoring the pair of heroes.

"Maybe we should call it a bust and try elsewhere." Madison whispered to her friend, but she could feel the roiling anger shaking off of Emma.

"Hellooooo? Can't you fucking turn around and speak English? We're in the U.S. of A, not some rice paddy in the middle of Mongolia." Firefly pressed, crossing her arms. "Or maybe you're too stupid to understand English. Do I have to speak Chinese to you? Chingchongchong dingdong kungpow pichichigegebabi pangan-"

Now that riled up the men in no time. The lead Asian man with a baseball cap yelled out something that was no doubt an insult before stomping over to Emma. That frightened Madison enough to take a step backwards, but Firefly held her ground. "You Asians are all the same in the end. Radiant, don't just stand there, let's go!"

"Oh, okay!"

Radiant ran forward as Firefly summoned her orbs of light. That stopped the men in their tracks, but not for long. With a yell the lead man drew a switchblade and approached with a scowl. Firefly quickly sent a couple of orbs forward, two of them missing the target by a mile but the remaining one hit square in the chest, knocking the breath out of the punk.

The two other men stormed past their comrade, but Radiant finally regained enough of her composure to step up in her role. _'I've practiced this a hundred times. Picture an image. Then let it happen.'_

While Radiant continued to stand still, her body exploded into light and action as a series of glowing clones burst out of her body and spread around the approaching opponents. One threw a punch that the target easily evaded, only to leave him open a kick aimed at the crotch but merely hit a knee instead. His partner got mobbed by a trio of clones that partially melded together, making it difficult to anticipate the near-simultaneous punches they all threw up. Though they all hit their mark, the man was hardly fazed.

Then the second wave came. This time the clones varied their actions, some bowling over in order to trip the men, others merely standing in front of the two superheroines in order to act as a human wall. While Radiant successfully kept the entire group at bay, Firefly gratefully used the distraction to hit the men with her hard hitting concussive orbs while discarding the rest. In the end, the three men stood no chance. They all fell to the cold hard pavement with pained grunts.

"Wow.. that was.." Madison wheezed as adrenaline still poured through her veins. She felt tired despite not moving a muscle, yet she still wanted more. "Heroing is so fun."

"I told you so!" Firefly squealed as she pulled out a phone from a hidden pocket. At least she had the sense to use a prepaid one instead of her personal cellphone. "Let's call this in."

While Emma conversed with the PRT hotline, Madison flexed her hands, almost not believing what she had accomplished. Sure, her clones were a little.. underwhelming, but it was more than enough to take care of a few punks.

"Yeah eh.. some hardcore ABBers ambushed us... they wanted to grab us or something I think.. they were really up to no good.."

Madison was more than a pretty face now. Right now she felt pretty proud playing the good guy. _'Emma's right. It feels so good to step into the shoes of a hero and save people's lives.'_

"They're knocked out, I think. You can pick them up whenever..what statement.. uhm sorry, we're too busy to stick around, bye bye!" Emma hung up and slipped the phone back into her pocket. "Let's go before the Protectorate arrives. They're sending someone asap and they want to hold us for a couple of questions."

"Okay." While Madison personally didn't mind meeting up with someone like Armsmaster or Velocity, she was reluctant to argue with Emma. Perhaps she would have another opportunity to meet with her favorite heroes. She wanted Miss Militia's autograph.


	6. Tutorial: 1-6

**Free to Play**

1.6 - Madison

* * *

><p>Madison was getting used to the hero thing. The first couple of times, she often startled when groups of men tried to attack her. But with the help of Emma's confident disposition, Madison slowly eased into the mentality of a hero. Though her power didn't make her any stronger or tougher, it did allow her to keep the thugs at bay. At first she clumsily used her clones to wrestle with her opponents and force them to trip as her punches and kicks rarely elicited grunts of pain.<p>

"You know, this could go a lot faster if you brought a weapon." Emma commented one day as she winced at a cut on her arm.

The crazed Merchant that made the cut had barreled right through Madison's clones, proving to them that they weren't invincible nor immovable. The man came up so fast that Firefly hadn't been able to shield her body with one of her orbs. Luckily Radiant quickly generated enough clones to waylay the Merchant from behind and knock him out by colliding his head against the pavement. This time they remembered to lighten the wallets of their defeated adversaries before letting the PRT pick them up. _'Those vigilante laws are such a lifesaver.'_

"Only fifty bucks?" Emma whined as she counted the frayed banknotes, wiping away any potential traces of cocaine. "The stupid stoners always carry the least in cash."

"They got plenty of drugs on their bodies. They're dealers, what do you expect."

"Well, they should at least carry more change."

Since that day, Madison experimented with different objects until she settled for her old field hockey stick. It wasn't as lethal as a knife nor as unwieldy as a full-sized ice hockey staff. The stick also had plenty of heft and mass, which somehow made the light projection break less quickly. Madison also found good uses for the hooked curve of the stick, using them to trip people's legs or catch a running thief by his hoodie.

Meanwhile, Firefly got faster at selecting the right orb and hit more accurately with them. A few times, she sent out the wrong orb, one time even blinding herself with a 'flashbang' orb. In another particularly heated incident against the ABB, she actually blew out a couple of fingers with an explosive orb. Emma freaked out at the sight, and only stayed long enough to call for an ambulance before the both of them scrammed.

Firefly still shook through her bones even after they passed a block. "I.. I almost killed a guy. All that blood. Oh God."

Luckily, she calmed down after lots of hugs.

The nightly patrols changed their schedules and outlook on life. Madison only felt truly alive when she donned her costume. Everything else seemed petty or boring by comparison. She drifted away from her parents and siblings, even skipping their semi-ritual movie nights. School also lost its appeal. She hardly kept up with the latest fashion and barely went out with her other friends. Even her grades slipped from barely acceptable to downright worrisome, though a bit of sweet talking with her teachers assured them she would catch up. She just hadn't found the time yet.

Really, even pestering Taylor lost its appeal to Madison. Only Emma really went out of her way to keep up the pressure. Making grown men cry and run in fear was much more fun than teasing a closed-off clamshell of a classmate. _'I don't need to prove myself anymore. I'm strong in my own rights.'_

Still, despite their distractions - or perhaps because of it, their popularity in school couldn't have been better. The stature and confidence their nighttime activities bestowed upon them carried over in their daytime routine. Boys and girls made way for them in busy hallways just like they did for Sophia. Girls flocked to the both of them in even greater numbers despite spending less time with each of them. Life was good.

"I think you're almost ready to get your first power-up." Emma suggested one day after she invited herself in Madison's bedroom. She counted the gains Madison accrued since the start of her adventure.

"I only got fifteen hundred bucks though. What did you pay?"

"About two-thousand, but I had a discount." Her eyes lighted up. "Maybe if we bring someone else with us, we can get the same deal again."

They both went to Madison's computer and booted it up. Ignoring the cat pictures that made up the wallpaper, the girls navigated to PHO and sent a private message to Free2Play. Unlike other times, the power seller didn't reply immediately.

"Maybe she's out on business or something." Madison wondered. She spent some time to look at her PHO profile, and found she was finally confirmed as a verified cape by the moderators. "That took them long enough. Hey look, you've been confirmed as well Emma."

That brought smiles to both of the girls. It had taken days of waiting even as they had sent proof of their cape identity and powers to PHO. "Looks like a whole bunch of accounts got verified at the same time as us."

"Lemme see how many." Emma requested as she took over the mouse and scrolled past the log. "Jesus, that must be around thirty names! That practically doubles our cape population."

Madison bit the bottom of her lip, still trying to process the numbers. "There might be more. I don't think every new customer wants to get verified."

"Yeah... you got a good point Mads." Emma contemplated. "And you know, maybe not everyone is going to become a hero like us. What if.. we have to fight some of them?"

That presented a very worrying possibility. So far, all they encountered were the occasional bums and dealers. Neither of the two had yet fought against another cape. The thought that there might be more supervillains out there every day made the idea of constant patrols less appealing.

* * *

><p>They met their first parahuman opposition deep in ABB territory. By now, Firefly and Radiant had become recognizable sights in this part of town. The residents at least stopped laughing at them and took them seriously for a change. Despite the warmer weather and longer day times, the streets were even emptier than before. The only regular noises came from the handful of cars that regularly traveled around - something neither of the two could touch, really. <em>'Not without causing an accident.'<em>

The sudden roar of acceleration alerted Madison. While Firefly instinctively summoned her orbs, Radiant quickly sent out a clone to push her friend out of the way while she herself jumped in the other direction.

The duo barely escaped the collision.

The car slid to a stop with squealing tires. The occupants opened the doors and exited the vehicle. The newcomers wore the characteristic colors of the ABB.

On their masks.

"Uh oh." Madison gulped. "There are four of them."

"I know. I can count you dimwit!" Emma hissed, already summoning her orbs, using a few of them to toughen up her arms. "At least they don't look like Oni Lee or Lung."

The group of ABBers were all men, but varied wildly in appearance and demeanor. One of the angrier ones yelled out what must have been a tirade in Chinese or something, Madison still couldn't tell the difference.

At least one of them could speak English this time. The man cracked his knuckles. "You two princesses have been disturbing our territory far too much lately. We do not tolerate troublemakers. We're here to teach you a lesson."

Everyone exploded into action. Radiant already pulled out her hockey stick and generated a handful of clones that made a mad dash towards the ABBers. The lead Asian met the incoming projections with eager confidence. With a single stomp with his feet, the clones abruptly ran in the opposite direction, reaching halfway back and performing their pre-programmed swings with their weapons before winking out of existence.

_'Wh-wh-what? That's bullshit!'_ Madison thought as she frantically pumped out a second wave of clones.

But like a bulwark for his teammates, the foot-stomper steadily advanced forwards, turning every wave of clones back where they came from as if they didn't know any better. The distance narrowed down so much Emma had to dodge the misguided clones. "Hey!"

"Sorry!" Radiant yelled back as she backpedaled, trying to gain some distance, all the while ignoring the clone smashing her hockey stick against her head. _'Good thing I can't harm myself.'_

Firefly stepped sideways, trying to divide the group's attention. Two of the Asians broke off to face her, not even flinching when half-a-dozen orbs of lights barreled right into them. One of the men demonstrated extreme agility and dodged the lights that should have hit any normal person. His partner simply took the attacks head-on, not even pushed backwards with every concussive hit. As the two men reached spitting distance, Firefly panicked and detonated a couple of flashbangs on the ground, blinding and disorienting all three in the process but successfully buying the girl some time.

Meanwhile, Radiant tried to catch Mr. Stompie Foot off-guard by staggering her clones. While his range was wide enough to encompass at least half a circle, the effect didn't reach very deep, letting the lone Radiant clone through intact and crack the ABBer's arm with the hockey stick. Cheering her success, Madison sent another series of clones to capitalize on the opening when she got kicked from behind by the remaining villain.

Who turned out to be lucky enough to get a flying power. Madison groaned. "Now that ain't fair at all!"

Luckily, the flier wasn't very fast nor did he seem any stronger, but the mobility advantage alone meant only Emma could hit him. She turned to Firefly in order to call for help, only to see she was being mobbed so closely she couln't summon her orbs. Only her temporary toughness prevented them from knocking her unconscious.

"Firefly!"

"Oh God help me!"

Madison tried to reach her friend, only to get pushed back by the flier and stomper. She continuously released rampaging clones in all directions, their short duration allowing her to keep up a storm of attacks that kept the two men at bay. Yet it took so much concentration to maintain the flurry, she couldn't even walk forward. _'If I can't reach her in time, they'll... they'll kill her!'_

"Enough of this!" The stomper growled as he jumped forwards. When he landed, an almost visible shockwave wiped away the clones and turned Radiant around, leaving her disoriented enough to receive a hard knock against her head.

_'Am I bleeding?!'_ Radiant thought as she tried and failed to generate more clones. Without them she only had her stick to defend against her two attackers.

Just as one of them grasped the haft of the hockey stick, Madison heard a loud _ZAP _that shocked the offending man. A barrage of other zaps echoed in the night, causing the rest of the ABBers to jump back from the stinging pain.

"Howdy pardners," The newcomer announced, stepping into the light of a lantern. The rescuer wielded a pair of cobbled-up Tinkertech pistols, their business ends smoking with heat. "That's no way to treat a lady."

Madison and Emma both took one good look at the Tinker. He wore a fake cowboy hat, a Zorro-esque mask and a cheap cowboy outfit that probably saw too many Halloweens. Despite the corny voice and awful getup, the girls pretty much recognized the scrawny figure underneath. _'Greg? What the hell?!'_

Unfortunately, now that Greg came closer, he had a good look at who he was rescuing. He discounted Madison pretty easily but stared quite intently at Firefly's curves and hair. He groaned in recognition. "Of all the pretty girls, why does it have to be you two!?"


	7. Tutorial: 1-7

**Free to Play**

1.7 - Greg

* * *

><p>Greg Veder lived in a time of possibilities. Ever since that Golden God descended to the Earth, weird shit had been popping up all over the world. Every single human's understanding of the world had been upended by the emergence of heroes who could shoot beams that turned corners and villains who could do worse. And that wasn't even getting into the Endbringers where you had a twisted angel that would happily rewrite your brain into a killer bot.<p>

"Oh shit, I just lost The Simurgh Game." Greg blurted as he palmed his face. Stupid stupid stupid! He already went three days without thinking once about the feather-clad Endbringer and was close to breaking his record. He jumped from his desk chair and knelt on the floor of his bedroom in a stance of supplication. '_Please Simurgh don't kill me. Please Simurgh don't kill me. This is a Simurgh-free zone. This is an Simurgh-free zone.'_

He relaxed only when he completed the mantra in complete accordance to the instruction he read last year on the internet. While he sometimes had his doubts about its effectiveness, he didn't know it didn't work so it was best he continued the ritual in case he wasn't wrong... he didn't want to end up in a situation where he could have prevented an attack if only he didn't skip-

_'Ugh, I better stop that thought before I have to do it again.'_

He turned instead to his bed, where he had laid out his gear. His _hero_ gear. It could do some work, he knew. But this was all he could scrounge up in short notice. He caressed his electric pistols possessively. _'At least these babies held up well tonight.'_

He always dreamed of becoming a cape. It was his hope of climbing out of anonymity, of a life with no consequence. His early childhood was consumed with imaging himself side-by-side with the greats such as Legend and Eidolon. Yet his dreams always failed to materialize. He knew why, of course. Parawiki was quite clear that those who _wanted_ to become capes never really ended up with any powers. You had to _not_ think about it in order to get it, just like The Simurgh Game-

"Awh, shit, I lost the Simurgh Game again."

After making another sacrifice to the Lady of Feathers, Greg turned back to his nonexistent fortune in the power department. He pretty much gave up on ever gaining powers.. despite still wishing for them. It was an impossible situation that would see him grow up, grow old, and die without doing anything meaningful in his lonely life.

Then Free2Play came around. Greg was skeptical at first. He didn't want to fall for yet another scam. But when it actually looked like the story had an inkling of truth, Greg grasped the opportunity as if his life depended on it. And in a way, it did. Sure, he knew the unspoken price for accepting Free2Play's help. Getting a weak power for free meant giving up a potentially stronger trigger down the road.. but really, Greg already made peace with that. _'Better to be half a loser rather than a complete loser I guess.'_

When Freebie granted him a Tinker power, he felt a bit disappointed at first. Deep in his heart, Greg wanted to.. he wanted to become something cool. Like a Brute. It would have helped a lot in gym. He would even be satisfied with a lamer Mover or Thinker power. Those at least had the potential to give him advantage at.. at school. Instead, the gods of the dice saw fit to double down on his nerdiness.

_'Damn you RNGesus!'_

Accustomed to bad luck, Greg tried to make the best of it. He bought a new notebook and drew everything his power crammed into his skull, and when his pen ran out of ink, he stole one from his mother's and continued until the designs that floated in his mind ran out. After that enormous brain rush, he went to bed, woke up, attended school, and came back to make sense of his potential inventions.

_'I.. I can build all of this if I have the right tools and materials.'_ He realized, though he winced at some of the more expensive and complicated designs, some of which required specialized tools and components prepared beforehand. _'It's just like the crafting system from that post-apocalyptic MMO I played last year.'_

He immediately booted up his computer and turned on his ancient early-2000's scanner that took _forever_ to warm up since it wasn't one of those fancy new LCD-illuminated machines. He drummed his fingers against the table impatiently until the scanner was finally ready to go. He then spent an hour scanning each page, then another hour organizing them into a model he was intimately familiar with. A tech tree.

Just looking at it made Greg weep a little. Most of the designs were merely variations of other designs. Finished products such as a laser rifle required him to build a lot of complicated components, such as a battery and an emitter. The tech tree wasn't very wide, as most seem to focus on different weaponry, with hardly any design related to defense or mobility. Neither did it go very deep, only two real technology tiers to speak of. Compared to the masterpieces other Tinkers such as Armsmaster built, his own designs seem woefully lackluster.

Then again, maybe his tech tree didn't have to be so limited. Maybe he could come up with more designs over time. But if that didn't happen, he still had one other option. _'She's asking for a lot of money though. I barely get enough allowance to cover my MMO subscription and buy the occasional triple-A title every once in a while. And that is even if I continue to let my mom buy my clothes.'_

If he wanted to be serious about becoming a hero, he needed to expand his tech tree. He needed more money. Preferably without sacrificing his gaming. _'God, if I have to choose between gaming and heroing... I can't choose between them. It's too cruel to even think about it!'_

With nothing else to do about that, Greg shrugged off the issue for another day and instead focused on the here and now. He wanted to build something he could use _now_ just to be sure he was really a parahuman and not simply a delusional madman. The Tinker settled on building one of the easiest but also weakest weapon in his tree. The design wouldn't win any prizes, but Greg imagined he could somehow manage to cobble it up with the broken microwave and the spare vacuum cleaner his dad left gathering dust in the garage.

Turned out he had enough raw materials to build another copy. Though he had to sacrifice a few trinkets here and there in order to make up for the subpar components, he somehow managed to build two functional electric pistols. _'Holy shit.. I actually did it.. I'm a genuine Tinker!'_

He spent the rest of the day worshiping his first productions. He fired a few shots in the backyard, he tinkered with the settings, he disassembled and reassembled them and he even hugged the weapons when he went to sleep, too afraid they'd disappear the next morning. Good thing he was wrong.

It took Greg two more days to get a good handle on his pistols and assemble the rest of his gear. In truth, he already had a pretty complete costume in his closet. He just... wasn't sure if he wanted to go through with that fantasy. It was easy to imagine yourself as a space cowboy after watching too much anime. Actually bringing it into reality was another matter. The Tinker experimented with several other hero concepts.. and even a few villain ones. Yet he discarded those outlandish ideas and settled for his first, childhood hero persona.

That he'd get banned for life if he sockpuppeted even one more time had nothing to do with it of course.

* * *

><p>When Void Cowboy set out for his first hero patrol, he didn't expect much. He just wanted to try out his electric pistols and run if he bit off more than he could chew. But when he saw an opportunity to save a couple of hot girls, he saw his chance to introduce himself in a good light and didn't hesitate to come to the rescue.<p>

"What the fuck are you waiting for nerd?" The heroine yelled impatiently as she tried to fend off her two attackers. One happened to have the same voice, measurements, hair color and length as a certain queen bitch in school. "Stop standing around and help us!"

From the way she glared and yelled at him, she likely guessed his identity as well. Sure, his disguise wasn't very good, but he expected others to expend a little more effort in determining his name. _'It's just my luck bumping into a classmate.'_

Unfortunately, he was so distracted he almost didn't see the flier coming. Panicking, he lifted up his pistols and fired a barrage of shots. A short volley of zaps instantly traveled in the vague direction of the diving ABBer. It was more luck than any skill in marksmanship that a bolt landed against the cape's head. Completely unprepared, the ABBer lost control of his power and practically crashed right before he reached Greg. The cowboy cape quickly put a few more zaps into his opponent to be sure before helping out Firefly.

With the flier out of the picture, Radiant focused fully on the foot stomper. She generated a multitude of blindingly bright clones that swing their hockey sticks madly, not even allowing the Asian the time and space to apply his power properly. Madison tore into the ganger as soon as she tripped the ABBer with the hook of her stick.

Seeing two of their number defeated in such a sudden reversal, the remaining two ABBers took one look at each other before they scrammed. They left Firefly on the ground and ran leaving their comrades and their car behind.

_'That was easy.'_ Greg thought half-amazed as he holstered his pistols. That turned out to be a bad idea as a pair of burning sizzles started to smoke from his sides. He quickly drew his pistols again in order to prevent them from burning his clothes. _'Shit these things overheat way too quickly. Note to self: upgrade their heat-absorption asap.'_

Firefly climbed up to her feet and brushed off the dirt with as much dignity as she could spare. Greg couldn't help but appreciate the view.

Naturally he received a light twack against his head. "Hey, eyes up here."

Madison managed to disguise her appearance much better, having at least the smarts to wear a full face mask and an outfit that didn't cling so tightly against her body. Yet all of that was moot as soon as Greg put her girly girly voice together with the presence of Emma. Somehow Greg managed to lose his tongue.

"Look, we appreciate your help." Madison admitted softly. "We would have been in trouble if you hadn't come."

"What's with the fake cowboy look?" Emma barged in. "Who are you supposed to be?"

"I'm the Void Cowboy. This is all I could scrabble together on short notice." He replied defensively. "And you?"

"Firefly."

"And Radiant."

They shared an awkward silence. Then Emma broke the silence. "How did you recognize us so quickly?"

"Well no offense uh, Firethingie, the Glory Girl-style costumes look great, but they're actually rather bad at hiding your looks. Everyone at school knows how you look like. A domino mask isn't going to hide your.. Emma-ness."

Firefly looked a bit put out at that. She frowned at him. "Well whatever. Keep this to yourselves. Don't tell _anyone_ at school, got it?"

The cowboy's head shook so much his hat tipped over his eyes. "Sure, no problem!"

"I _mean_ it, Greg. You got a fucking loose mouth, especially online. I don't want to see _any_ mention of us by you on PHO or elsewhere. We're not friends. We're not in a team together. We're strangers, nothing more."

"..Understood." The boy squeaked as he tried to ward off Emma's intensity.

Luckily Radiant came to his rescue. "Let's call this in before we scram. Cowboy, do you got any ties to keep these two in place?"

"Sure."

While Greg tied up the two unconscious ABBers, Emma called in the PRT hotline. After that was done, the girls parted ways with him. "And don't forget, you slip up even once, and we'll _kill_ you."

"I get it already." He sighed as the two prima donnas marched away from his sight. Even in costume he remained a loser.

At least he had a consolation price. They left the car.


	8. Tutorial: 1-8

**Free to Play**

1.8 - Greg

* * *

><p>Driving a car was harder than it looked. Sure, Greg played plenty of racing games, though he wasn't stupid enough to buy a racing wheel. His parents would have shouted his ear off. In any case, he knew the basics. As an added bonus, this time his goal wasn't to drive from A to B as fast as possible while crashing numerous times like a drunken wreck because the damage model made his car ten times tougher. No, this time he only had to obey the speed limit. Simple right?<p>

_'As if.'_ It was a miracle he hadn't already crashed. He was too used to playing racing games staring straight at his monitor that he was too unused to physically turning his head to the left and right. Several times, cars honked angrily at him when he cut them off. He even swerved his car when the other driver refused to give way, almost crashing them both. _'Sheesh!'_

Greg decided to ditch the car at a nearby parking lot next to a fitness center in his neighborhood before he caused a real accident. It wasn't as if he could drive his stolen car home anyway. He locked the cheap sedan with his stolen-, ahem, rightfully claimed keys and walked the rest of the distance home. Feeling a bit ridiculous wearing his cheap costume, he put down his hat and mask and hid them the best he could under his jacket.

Only when he successfully sneaked back into his bedroom did he sigh in relief. He was home sweet home. He made a name for himself as the Void Cowboy, though not exactly with the nicest people in the universe. But it was undeniable that he, the Void Cowboy, was instrumental in saving two girls' lives. _'They could have been more grateful, though.'_

He also learned a few crucial lessons in his first outing. Greg sighed as he looked down at his costume with a more critical eye. The shirt and vest were several years old and fitted tight enough against his body that it did a terrible job of hiding his scrawny body. The hat was a cheap synthetic toy and the bandanna with two holes for his eyes only drew more attention to his skinny lower face. If he wanted to continue to fight crime, he couldn't allow himself to be recognized by every classmate from Winslow. Right now, his costume looked so cheap and pathetic that everyone could see the nerd underneath. If he wanted to establish the Void Cowboy as a legitimate hero, then he needed to find a way to look _cool_.

Booting up his computer, Greg took a look at his tech tree. His hopes were dashed as he saw nothing remotely related to power suits or even regular armor. Somehow, his superhuman skills of constructing weapons out of old appliances didn't extend to any form of protection. Hand- and shoulder-mounted weapons were the closest equivalent, but those designs were too far up his tech tree to even bother at this stage.

That meant he had to buy better clothes. Sidestepping the fact that he was absolutely broke (he already paid his MMO subscription time for the rest of the year), he also had to survive shopping for clothes. When was the last time he bought his own clothes, or stepped into a clothing store for that matter? _'Oh yeah, that time I bought new gloves for the winter because mom insisted on buying those fat mittens. That was... one-and-a-half years ago.'_

He shuddered at that memory. Cute shop workers asking if he needed their assistance, eyeing clothes that cost three times the price of a quality video game (what a waste!), and being embarrassed when he finally found gloves thin and warm enough to suit his needs only to find out they were for girls, not boys. Greg wasn't very fond of repeating that experience, but it was the only way to assemble a better costume.

Or he could just order one online. He smacked his palm. Of course! Why go through the traumatic experience of shopping for clothes in a clothing store when he could just order them online in the safety of his bedroom? Why didn't he think of it sooner? _'I still need money and a way to order the things I want without leaving a super-obvious trail back to Greg Veder.'_

But those were manageable problems. Something he could do about without going too far from his comfort zone. _'Enough procrastinating. I'm far too tired now.'_

Greg shut off his computer, put his hero gear away and went to bed. As he tried to calm his nerves so that he could sleep, he considered what he should do with his new car. His mind and common sense told him that it was madness to keep a car that was essentially stolen from one of the most notorious gangs of Brockton Bay. He should get rid of it as soon as possible. Heck, if he was lucky enough to find a buyer, he'd gain enough money to continue his tinkering _and_ buy an assortment of clothes to assemble his new costume. It was a convenient way to solve his current problems.

But.. the kid in Greg refused to even contemplate getting rid of his first ride. Who cared if it belonged to an ABBer. It's his just reward for heroing and saving a couple of lives. If he got rid of the car, it would be a very long time before he got a new one. His parents would never buy him his own car, so it was either claiming wallets from villains, or working part-time at a joint like Fugly Bob's. _'And how heroic would it look like if the Void Cowboy had a daytime job as a burger flipper? Not all Tinkers are lucky enough to be a playboy billionaire in their normal lives.'_

He was going to keep the car, damn the torpedoes. Every hero needed a way to get around, and his was gonna be his very own batmobile. _'I'll need to paint it black. And see if I can modify its components. Considering my tech tree, I'll probably won't be able to soup it up very much. But there's one thing I can do.. and that is bolt lots of weapon on it.'_

* * *

><p>Too bad moonlighting as a superhero didn't give you a free pass to skip school. Greg's new technical prowess hadn't made him any smarter or stronger either. Sure, he might intuitively understand physics and chemistry a little better, he still had to calculate the numbers like any other student.<p>

Two things were different at school today. First, Emma and Madison both slammed him against the lockers and gave him the stink eye.

"You haven't told anyone, have you?"

"No! Of course not!"

"Well keep it that way, loser."

His body still tingled at their touch. It wasn't every day that a girl would touch him. He savored the scent of their perfumes before catching up lest he be late.

The second was that Taylor hadn't come to school. Normally, that wasn't so unusual, considering.. the things he heard.. but usually she ditched school during lunch. Shrugging, Greg made himself as small and unremarkable as possible. The times when Taylor was missing were times when he had to keep his head down. He was well aware of his position in the totem pole. _'Then again, I doubt the three bitches are going to bother me. I know Emma and Madison's secrets. The worst they can do to me is spill my own night time identity, but that's pretty much worthless.'_

From the glares he received from the two girls, they probably figured out the same. Greg was tempted to do a victory dance in front of them, but that required A: a spine, B: knowing how to dance, and C: Alexandria-like invulnerability when everyone else beat him up. _'Better not to poke the sleeping dragon.'_

Instead, he absently slogged through his classes while considering how to overhaul his car. He wanted to strap lots of guns on it, but he had to make them concealable if he didn't want the PRT to drag it away when he parked it at the fitness center. He also had to change its license plate and color for that matter, or he'd get a horde of ABBers on his head. _'Jesus man, I feel like a villain. It's not as if I robbed a sweet ol' grandma of her only ride. I took it fair and square from a gang of villains out to do despicable things to two innocent girls... well okay, maybe they had it coming, but at least I earned the reward!'_

The most frustrating thing about it all was that his Tinker power offered him no easy solutions to this problem. If he wanted to change the license plate into something both the ABB and the police won't chase after him, he had to do it the old fashioned way. _'I'll look up a guide on the internet. There has to be something there.'_

Something else was different at school. He noticed it more clearly during lunch when he tried to pretend he was a wall. Groups huddled closer together. People were staring appraisingly at each other. An undercurrent of.. trouble hung over the school, and it put everyone at each other's toes. Greg had a good idea what caused this change. _'There are more capes in school now.'_

It used to be that the gangs had to stay discreet, if only to avoid the attention of a certain vigilante-turned-ward. Now, after gaining a couple of powers themselves, the gangs no longer had to pretend they were model students. They had the ability to fight back, should they choose to.. _'Though you'd have to be an idiot to out yourself like that.'_

Greg really had no clue what to think or what to do. It might very well be that a tenth of the school possessed powers now. Would that frighten others into getting powers as well, if only for self-protection? He shuddered to think what school would be like if _everyone_ was a cape.

He couldn't have been happier when the school bell finally rang. Greg practically zipped out of the school and was the first to board the bus. As soon as he came back home, he dumped his school bag in the corner and booted up his pc. He opened multiple tabs on his browser and checked out his usual sites as well as ways to disguise a car.

While he had no luck on the latter, he did came across something interesting on PHO. It changed quite a bit the last time he visited, in particular the Brockton Bay section. Somehow, Free2Play not only had her own website (still under construction, sadly), but also warranted enough shit to get her dedicated subforum where she's a moderator.

There were a lot of interesting goodies here, but Greg focused on one sub-sub-forum in particular.

**LFG: Looking For Group**

Are you alone, or does your group lack a particular powerset? Find partners and teammates and here. Be sure to read the rules first. WARNING: No villains allowed.

This... this was absolutely _perfect_. One thing Greg hated most about MMOs was when they featured huge, complex dungeons and raids, but omitted easy ways to find teammates willing to do the same adventure. Stuff like a group finder made partnering up much easier by grouping random but like-minded people together. While this subforum didn't match the ease of most group finder, it was better than looking for other heroes on the street and asking them if they'd be willing to work together.

As he entered the subforum, Greg found a couple pages worth of LFGs, LFMs and more. He considered looking for a bigger group, but reconsidered. _'I don't want to be the third wheel in an already close knit group of friends.'_

Instead, he decided to start small, and browsed through topics where other heroes wanted to team up with one or two other capes. Considering his rather infamous forum reputation, he skipped any topic made by forum regulars. He also avoided girls for... self-preservation reasons (he didn't want to die of embarrassment!).

Greg eventually came across something interesting. A topic made by a forum account with very little history wanted a buddy to guard his back. The hero was evidently decent at taking damage, but he needed a partner who could attack enemies at range, preferably non-lethally. _'I can do that. Heck, my electric pistols are pretty much non-lethal as long as they don't blow up on me.'_

Strangely - or stupidly, if you didn't mince your words - the cape posted a selfie showcasing his power and.. the rest. The image wasn't very flattering, though at least he looked the same age as Greg. To be honest, the hero could give Chubster a run for his money. That also explained why his topic got zero replies to his offer._'He's a loser. Well.. it's not as if anyone else will tolerate a nerd like me.'_

He sent a pm to the guy rather than replying publicly to the same topic. He didn't want to scare the other hero off by inviting flames from Bagrat or the like. Seeing he got no immediate reply, he minimized his browser and started to boot up his favorite MMO. _'I forgot to do my daily quests yesterday. I have to catch up before I go out on patrol.'_

Midway through his relaxation, his browser beeped a notification. He received a reply! Greg instantly alt-tabbed his game, not caring his character was getting beat up by a boss harpy, and returned to PHO.

**Steadfast**: Hello. Your offer sounds interesting. You are the first person who showed an interest. May I ask why?

**XxVoid_CowboyxX**: I'm in a similar kind of boat as u. I figured why not.

**Steadfast**: You don't mind I'm not in shape?

**XxVoid_CowboyxX**: Trust me, that's the LAST thing I'll hold against u. Besides, I have a car.. well sort of..

**Steadfast**: Sort of?

**XxVoid_CowboyxX**: I can't explain it here. The CIA will arrest me if they know.

**Steadfast**: Okay... are you sure you are a hero?

**XxVoid_CowboyxX**: Oh don't worry about that, I'm 100% hero. I even rescued a pair of helpless girls in my first night out.

**Steadfast**: That's good. I think I'd like to know you more. Do you want to meet up?

**XxVoid_CowboyxX**: Sure!

**XxVoid_CowboyxX**: Do you know the Chinese restaurant at the very end of the Boardwalk? How about we meet there? The alley there is quiet enough so we can meet in costume, but it's also public enuf.

It took a minute before he got a reply.

**Steadfast**: I have the address.

**XxVoid_CowboyxX**: See u then!

Greg closed his browser and went back to his game. Even though the Harpy was happily eating out his character's guts, he had a pretty good feeling about his upcoming patrol.


	9. Tutorial: 1-9

**Free to Play**

1.9 - Theo

* * *

><p>Theo hated his father. It wasn't enough that Max Anders was a hardworking businessman who missed out on his son's most important childhood moments. He also happened to have a hobby of leading a gang of neo-nazis. Those gang associations led the Teeth to kill his mother Heith, depriving him from the only person in the world who gave a damn about him. The lavish mansion in a well-to-do district he called home felt utterly empty after that devastating loss. It became more of a nazi retreat due to the many guests and colleagues Kaiser entertained in his home.<p>

He despised the attention. At first, they all looked at Theo as an heir, a third-generation parahuman in the making with the potential to trigger with yet another metal-based power. His father pushed him hard, driving him to study math and English until his fingers were practically bleeding. While normal children spent their time building sand castles or playing a game of basketball, he had to make nice with the children of other modern white supremacists. He had nothing in common with them, and they shunned him in return.

Everything he did only disappointed his father further. The pressure lessened, but so did his attention. Theo, young as he was, figured that was a good thing. The lower his grades, the more his father frowned upon him, and the less he received in attention. Sure, some times his father let the Kaiser within emerge. Those were bad times. He grew unhappy, and his performance at school dropped even further. His lethargic mood swings also caused him to put on weight, further shaming the Anders family. By the time Aster was born, Max abandoned his son pretty much entirely. Theo felt a bit guilty for shifting the burden to his little half-sister.

Despite his father's increasing distance, Theo knew he hadn't fully escaped his grasp yet. Kaiser still hoped for the emergence of his offspring's powers. So long Theo hadn't triggered yet, he would always be stuck with his father and the rest of the Empire Eighty-Eight. He felt incredibly angry at that. Why should he be inescapably linked to an organization he had no connection to other than through his hated father? It was unfair. But what could he do? He was Theo Anders, a failure of an heir and loved by nobody except for his baby sister Aster. _'She's the only innocent one in the family.'_

Though he purposefully tried to ignore the cape world as much as possible, it was chance that he overheard his father discussing something very important one day. Being who he was, Kaiser probably didn't know he was still at home. He invited over Krieg and Hookwolf to talk about something remarkable.

"I've confirmed it." Krieg stated calmly. "The henchman we sent, the one we scanned beforehand to make sure he doesn't have Corona Pollentia, has somehow become a parahuman, complete with a brand new Pollentia and Gemma."

Kaiser let out a frustrated sigh. "This is an unwelcome confirmation to an unwelcome piece of news. The power to turn any human of choice into a parahuman - no matter how weak they are - is extremely disruptive to my city, let alone the entire hemisphere. The business model she's adopted will only accelerate the chaos. Everyone and their grandmother can and _will_ become parahumans as long as this trump is offering the service for free. It is vital that we get a handle on the source. How far are we in capturing this so-called 'Free2Play'?"

"The hunt is not going well." Hookwolf reported. "We had a small window of opportunity where the likelihood of capturing her was high. Unfortunately, Shadow Stalker spooked our target, and ever since then she's been taking.. precautions."

"Tch, the Protectorate need to get a tighter grip on Shadow Stalker's leash." Kaiser spat. "What kind of precautions?"

"Free2Play has hired Uber and Leet to be her bodyguards and.. advisers. I still have no idea why those pair of jokers let themselves be suborned by a junior, independent rogue."

"The partnership is unusual in another light as well." Krieg said. "From what I've heard from our younger brethren, Free2Play and the idiot duo should have had some fundamental disagreements on the nature of funding video games. None of us have any idea how Free2Play reconciled that with the two."

Hookwolf shrugged. Who needed video games when you had good old-fashioned blood sport? "Ever since then, she has become extremely hard to track. Any volunteers we send to receive powers is swept of all tracking devices and is put through a gauntlet of security checks before being allowed to meet with Free2Play.

Kaiser snorted, but knew what a setback the team-up represented to the hunt. It took a special kind of stubbornness and craftiness to not only stay active in Brockton Bay as independents, but to do so broadcasting most of your active stunts. The two screw-ups were bad in many things, but they have never, ever been discovered when they didn't want to be found.

"Hookwolf, keep up the search. Their partnership might not last beyond a short period. There's a reason why Uber and Leet never attracted an entourage." Kaiser turned to Krieg. "And you, keep sending out volunteers. As much as I don't like it, we'll have to play by the new rules if we can't capture the trump for ourselves."

The conversation turned to other, more boring matters, giving Theo a lot to think about. _'There's a trump in Brockton Bay that gives out powers for free?'_

It sounded impossible. Everything the world knew so far about capes contradicted what he had just heard. But Kaiser took it all seriously. It was something worth investigating. Theo headed back to his room and turned on his laptop. He opened a search page and tried to find anything about 'free to play', if he heard the name correctly.

That produced a ton of irrelevant search results, most having to do with extremely bad games. After narrowing down his search to Brockton Bay, he came up onto a few promising news articles. He clicked one. What he read astounded him. _'Powers for free and on demand?'_

The possibility shattered all of his beliefs about powers. Having grown up in an environment where superpowers was dominant, Theo had more than a passing idea how hard and random trigger events happened. Could this cape really...?

He stewed on it for a day, going over the facts and what other costumers were saying. It was real. Anyone was welcome. No questions were asked. In his darker moments, Theo imagined how it would be to return home with a weak and useless superpower and show it off to his dad. _'He'd get angry. really angry.'_

But Kaiser wouldn't kill him. Disown him perhaps, which was a plus in Theo's mind. Maybe he'd be grounded for the rest of his life, or receive some other punishment, but Theo could easily bear such burdens if he finally got rid of the specter hanging over his life since the moment of his birth. _'Father will never allow me to inherit the Empire, let alone allow a weakling like me in the organisation in the first place. I'll be free.'_

That night, Theo snuck out of bed and opened his laptop. He went to PHO and found an e-mail address. He hesitated for a long moment. Was he committing suicide here? His father would be furious, but.. _'I can't keep doing what he says. I have to break free.'_

He wrote the e-mail.

* * *

><p>The front door opened and closed. Theo calmly put away his shoes and hung up his coat. He breathed deeply, apprehensive about what he had just experienced.<p>

"Theo?" Someone called from the kitchen. "You are late."

"Sorry, father. I.. had to do something important and it took a lot longer than I thought."

Getting through security in order to meet Free2Play took a lot longer than he thought.

"Have I not instructed you to call me when you are delayed? I tried to call your cell phone but failed. Did you turn it off?"

Actually, some device jammed all communications. "I was in a place that didn't allow phones."

When he entered the kitchen, he practically broke a sweat at his father's measuring gaze. _'And he's not even angry yet.'_

"You are hiding something from me, son. Tell me where you have been this afternoon."

Trying to delay the inevitable moment for a couple more seconds, Theo lumbered over to the table and took a seat. He steeled his nerves. "I made an appointment with the cape who gave out superpowers. She.. she turned me into a parahuman."

For a moment, barely anything changed. Then, his father's expression grew more grave. Visible rage cracked his normally impeccably polite mask. The metal table erupted in a forest of blades, most of them pointing straight up to Theo's small relief. "You what?! Why would you-, oh I see now, this is all you could come up with for a revenge ploy."

"I hate the Empire, father! I told you over and over again. Even if I had powers, I'd rather be a hero than become a villain!" Theo shot back, not wanting to back down on this matter. He had to remain steadfast. "Yeah, I threw away my chances to trigger with something powerful, but if I had my way I would rather live with no powers at all."

The blades morphed back into the table as Max slowly calmed down. "You have often proven difficult for me to handle, but now you've proven to be incorrigible. What are your powers now? At least tell me if you have the decency to trigger as a shaker."

Theo wanted to smirk, but his almost absolute fear stilled that foolish act. Instead, he showed it to his father, and turned his skin into metal. "I'm a Brute. I can turn the surface of my skin into a thin layer of metal. It doesn't go all the way either."

"I.. see." Max said, and sat back into the chair, thinking. "I need to reflect upon your exceedingly reckless action. Go upstairs and leave me."

"But I haven't gotten any dinner-"

"Upstairs, NOW!"

The boy raced up the stairs and dove into his room. Having grown up under a tyrant, Theo had become quite proficient at reading his father's moods. He had to be in order to survive in this household. What he just felt when his dad took that tone.. _'He killed people when he got into that mood.'_

While Theo cowered in his room, his father kept himself busy. The boy could hear Max's footsteps throughout the house, often speaking through the phone. The voices were too far away for Theo to make out the words, but he had no doubt it concerned him. Still, Theo relaxed a bit after hours had passed without any major incident. If his father wanted to kill him, he would have done it by now. Now he just needed to wait until he could find out if his punishment would be worse than death.

The stairs creaked. Footsteps thundered in the empty house and grew louder as they drew closer to Theo's room. The boy sat up from his bed and sat with his back rigid, awaiting his father's judgment.

Max opened the door without a knock, entered the room and stared at his son with a look that Theo learned never spelled anything good for him. "Theo, Theo, Theo, sometimes you take up more after Kayden than your birth mother. Both of you harbor delusions of playing hero. But if this is the game you want to play, then fine, son."

His father wasn't finished yet. He handed over a printed piece of paper to his son. "What is this?"

"Your future. If you do not want to join my Empire, that's fine, Theo. But you _will_ help our cause no matter the uniform you wear."

The print depicted a PHO board topic outlining special offers called 'Founder Packs'. Evidently they were called that way because they helped the seller to setup his business. His father had scrolled to the bottom of the first post and printed out the most expensive option. Theo's eyes bulged at the price. "This.. this is insane."

"Nothing is too much if it comes to my son." Kaiser smiled coldly. "While it may be too late to nurture your natural parahuman talent, I will not have an Anders embarrass me with parlor tricks. I wish to see the very limit of your artificial capabilities."

"Does that mean that I can still be a hero?"

"I'll allow it within certain limits. First, you will not under any circumstances join the Wards or the Protectorate. Second, you will come home each day and report all your cape activities and observations you've made to me. I want to know everything you see, especially concerning Free2Play herself, understood?"

He had no choice but to accept his father's terms no matter how much it clashed against his conscience. "Yes.. father."

"Very well. I will make the arrangements and have the money ready by tomorrow." Max stepped back and hovered at the doorstep. "Make me proud."

_'At least he didn't say I love you."_ The boy thought sullenly. He heard that lie far too much.

Theo read the rest of the page as soon as his father left his room. His mood drooped as he thought over his father's latest scheme. _'Seems I'm not free of him yet.'_

**Scion Founder Pack - $999,999.99**

You are winner! The Scion Pack the ultimate founder pack, containing both amazing deals, incredible goodies and the heartfelt gratitude of Free2Play. This top-tier bundle is the ultimate booster to your budding parahuman career, and the proceeds you part with will help establish Free2Play's enterprise. All Founder Packs are a time-limited deals only, so buy now before they're gone forever! **Note**: All Founder Packs are bound to your cape identity, and may not be traded.

This pack includes:

**12x Boost Tickets**. Each boost ticket entitles you a free power-tuneup courtesy of Free2Play. **Note**: All boost tickets are bound to your cape identity and may not be traded. Customers may only redeem one boost ticket per week to prevent overburdening the system and allow the body and mind to get accustomed to the changes.

**Level 20 VIP status**. The VIP program is a thank you to all paying customers. Scion-level Founders skip the intermediate levels and are propelled to the top of the VIP program. Among other minor bonuses, a level 20 VIP status entitles you to receive a permanent 25% discount to all purchases. Note: discounts do not stack. The highest one will apply if multiple can be used.

**Backstage Pass**. Gain exclusive backstage entry to limited events and get opportunities to speak to Free2Play and her closest associates. **Note**: Abuse of this privilege will cause your Backstage Pass to be revoked.

**Ultra-rare Scion Mask**. Peasants wear hats. Kings wear crowns. Scion-level Founders are the only class of customers that will receive a limited-production, fully-accurate reconstruction of Scion's head. The skin is coated with real gold dust and the hair is sourced from fresh human fibers. Press the button mounted to the side of the neck to make the entire mask glow yellow! **Note**: non-rechargeable batteries are included.

**Parian-tailored Trench Coat**. What better for a hero than to look cool, stay warm, and keep out the rain? All Junior-Protectorate-level Founders and up will be gifted with a stylish trench coat made by Brockton Bay's local fashion icon! Comes in four colors.

**Founder-exclusive Early Access**. Junior-Protectorate-level Founders and up can buy new items introduced in the item mall a full week earlier than anyone else.

**Unique PHO Forum Badge**. Show off how much you've contributed to Free2Play by displaying a PHO-approved forum badge unique to each tier of Founders.

**Deluxe Starter Kit Included**! Normally $50, all Founders receive the Deluxe Starter Kit for free. This pack contains all the essentials to start your successful superhero career, and includes: a unisex domino mask, a weather-proof map of Brockton Bay, an annotated copy of the unwritten rules, a cheat-sheet listing all essential phone numbers and a bag of 100x zip ties.

The Scion Founder Pack represents a combined savings of $3,564,253.56. Buy this pack now before this deal expires!


	10. Tutorial: 1-10

**Free to Play**

1.10 - Theo

* * *

><p>Steadfast stepped in the alleyway after donning his mask. It was a big step for him to extend his trust to someone else, but he knew how long an average vigilante lasted if they stayed solo. Having someone mind your back went a long way in extending your average lifespan and hero career.<p>

He sighed in relief at what he saw. The Tinker was white, but he looked rail-thin and wore such an awful cowboy costume that he couldn't possibly have been a member of the Empire Eighty-Eight. Theo was half-afraid his father would keep tabs on him by surrounding his son with henchmen.

The Tinker jumped down from his sitting position at the top of his garbage truck and held out his hand. "Hey, you came! Thanks for coming to meet me. I'm the Void Cowboy."

"Steadfast." Theo introduced himself as he shook the excited teen's clammy hand. He absently wiped his hand against his jacket. "So what's your Tinker specialty?"

"Nothing big. Just some guns, and stuff." Void Cowboy drew his pistols from his holsters and showed them off. "I built these babies first. They can zap people with electricity, and I made sure they're not strong enough to fry people to death."

At least their team had that area covered. Theo nodded in satisfaction. "That's good. When I use my power, I become tough, but I don't get much stronger. I'll be too slow to chase enemies around, so it's up to you to take out the criminals."

"I get it. You're the tank and I'm the ranged dps." Void Cowboy stated, as if that was supposed to mean something to Theo. "How about we get right into it? You wanna go and patrol the outskirts of E88 territory?"

_'No!'_ Theo momentarily panicked. "If you mind, I'd rather start somewhere else. The Empire has a lot of villains. I doubt we stand a chance against any of their core members. How about we head to the ABB?"

Now it was the Tinker's turn to look apprehensive. "Uhm, yeah, I already went there in my previous patrol. How about.. we go to the Trainyard or something? That place must be crawling with Merchants, right?"

The Merchants actually didn't hold any permanent territory per se, but it was a good suggestion nonetheless. "I'm okay with that."

The two stepped out the alley and calmly walked to their destination, keeping an eye out for any trouble. Though the night was just beginning to start, there were still plenty of people on the streets. Hardly any of them failed to notice the two young heroes and gave them a curious stare. Some even withdrew their cell phones and took pictures. Theo normally avoided cameras, but as Steadfast, he refused to show any fear. Besides, ever since Free2Play popped up, unknown costumed capes started to appear openly on the streets. Theo regularly spotted some on his way to school.

"I should have brought my car." Void Cowboy grumbled and he put his hands in his pockets.

"Why didn't you?"

"Oh, ehh.. I don't actually know how to drive." He laughed. "I'm not old enough to get a driver's license."

Neither was Theo, so he dropped the subject. So far, he found his new partner to be tolerable. Sure, Void Cowboy was.. different. Yet he meant well, and that was a good first step.

* * *

><p>They spotted the first sign of trouble not at the Trainyards, but along a small local shopping street on their way to the outskirts of the city. Two young men and a woman were robbing a 247 deli with brazen violence and speed. Instead of guns, they used their powers to terrorize the shop clerk. Theo didn't like what he saw. One of the men clawed open potato chip bags with hardened and extended nails. The other one brutally cracked open the cash register with the shop of his hand. The woman on the other hand did nothing except stand near the exit. _'We don't know what her powers are, if she even has one.'_

Void Cowboy frowned at the sight. "These guys.. the first thing they can think of after they gain powers is to rob a store? They haven't even bothered to dress up like villains."

The woman spotted the heroes and yelled a warning at her friends.

"Shit, we're made!" Void Cowboy swore and brought up both of his electric pistols to zap at the woman. Unfortunately, the small bursts of lightning failed to penetrate the windows.

Theo mentally groaned. He knew enough about cape combat that starting a fight while outnumbered was not a good idea. He activated his powers, feeling his skin turn into metal, and marched forward while the robbers appraised the do-gooders that aimed to stop them. "Void, call 911."

"What? But-"

"You can't do anything with the windows blocking your shots. Call the cops before you join me, okay?"

"Sure." The Tinker grumbled and holstered a pistol in order to grab his cell phone.

With backup on the way, Theo continued his slow advance. The clawed man laughed at his approach. "What are you doing here, fatty? You taking this hero shit seriously?"

"I'm here to stop you."

"You really don't want to mess with me." The clawman said. "I'll open you up like a can of tuna if you don't step out of our way."

The other robber finished emptying the cash register. "I got the goods! Let's go man!"

But Steadfast parked himself at the entrance of the deli. "You'll have to go through me if you want to run."

The three robbers looked questioningly at each other, as if they hadn't thought something like this would happen. Then the woman unsheathed a sharp kitchen knife and spoke up. "Ah fuck it, just kill the wannabe and let's go."

Having decided their course, the three advanced on Steadfast, not showing any hesitation or remorse of their intended action. Theo frowned behind his mask. _'These newcomers have no awareness of the unwritten rules.'_

He really wished Free2Play would consider her no-questions-asked policy of empowering every single person that visited her. Giving too much power to the wrong people was liable to cause a lot of harm. He raised his arms and blocked a strike from the first attacker. The claws raked his metal skin but failed to penetrate. This only seemed to make the clawman angrier and strike faster, keeping Theo's attention occupied. That was bad since Theo knew the other man was the real threat.

Yet while the villainous striker tried to shift behind him, it was the woman who struck the first real blow. Her kitchen knife stabbed Steadfast's elbow and drew blood. Theo kicked low and managed to push her back before she could strike again. _'Damnit, the armor at my joints are thinner. How did she know that? She could be a thinker.'_

But the fight went too quickly for him to dwell that long. The clawman switched his approach and tried to pierce his chest, sometimes succeeding in pushing past the metal skin, but then-

The striker received a full volley electric zaps just as he was about to attack Steadfast from behind. He fell to the ground, stunned, and leaving his teammates momentarily bewildered. Steadfast seized the opportunity and knocked the knife out of the woman's hand. She retreated, and instead of going for her weapon, she dove to her fallen friend and pried off the bag holding the cash, a task made more difficult since the body held it down. Her greed bought Void Cowboy enough time to get a clear shot and stun her into submission.

Theo had been busy as well. With no more distraction, he cut off the clawman's attempt at escape and knocked his head with a metal fist. He wouldn't be getting up any time soon.

Steadfast let his skin turn back to normal, and helped Void Cowboy tie the criminals up. While Theo was satisfied with waiting for the authorities to arrive, his Tinker partner had other ideas. "What are you doing?"

"I'm using my right as a vigilante to claim the spoils the villains took for themselves." The cowboy cape rummaged through the back pocket of the unconscious woman and pulled out her wallet. He opened it and pulled out a handful of bills. He quickly repeated his actions with the other wallets.

"I don't think the vigilante laws work that way, Cowboy." Theo said, concerned. This looked far too much like robbery to him. The sirens were coming closer.

"Aw, just bear with me, okay? I'm flat broke and I need the money if I want to build better shit."

The Tinker at least had the sense to put the wallets back before the authorities arrived. A PRT van and a couple of police cars had shown up and were taking things over.

A bearded man in a light uniform approached the pair of heroes, and was not exactly impressed with what he saw. "You two another one of those 'free to play' capes?"

"Yes." Cowboy answered. "And we're heroes."

"Uh huh. Have you registered with the PRT yet?"

"Uhm, no."

"This is my first time out."

The PRT officer crossed his arms. "Then I highly suggest you register yourselves with the Parahuman Response Team as soon as possible. It won't take long and we'll just ask some basic questions. We just want to keep a count on how many of you are out here. If you want, you can apply to join the Junior Ward Program."

Steadfast wasn't so sure about that. His father wouldn't like it, and the PRT might try to pressure him into the Wards.

"Junior Wards?" Void Cowboy asked. "I haven't heard anything about that. Is that different from the normal Wards?"

"It's brand new." The man explained with a shrug, as if to say he cared little about the matter. "Too many of you heroes are running around like headless chickens. If you join the Junior Wards, we can teach you the ropes and give you a nice little salary. It's less of a commitment than the regular Ward program, but you can promote to it if you pass our qualifications."

"Thank you, sir. But we'd like to go now." Steadfast said, and gently dragged Void Cowboy away.

"Don't forget to register!"

As they left the deli, the clerk groaned at the damage he had to clean up. "This is the second time this week we got robbed by villains. This town's turning into a warzone. Maybe I should get some powers too."

When they were finally out of earshot, Void Cowboy turned to his partner. "What was that about?"

"I.. I don't want to join the Wards." Theo looked down. "Could you not pry any further, please?"

"Sure.. whatever you say man. I can deal with it." The Tinker said, and they both started walking again. "I'm not planning to join the Wards either. Too many people. It would be the same as school."

* * *

><p>They had reached the Trainyards sometime later and patrolled the outskirts. To their disappointment, the site was almost completely empty. While they frequently heard police sirens, most of them zoomed past and went to other, more densely populated locations. Void Cowboy grew impatient and frustrated first. "This is a waste of time. Where the hell are all the drug dealers?"<p>

"If we can find them that easily, they wouldn't stay in business." Steadfast explained, having seen more than enough times how meticulously his father managed his distribution operations. "Some Merchants might setup here a few days, then scram to someplace else when the cops start to get wind of it. That's how they usually stay in business."

Just when they were about to give up and go home, they came across a gruesome sight. Void Cowboy had to hold in his stomach as a faint stench permeated the air. Steadfast looked down on what appeared to be a group of four budding heroes, wearing cheap masks and costumes not unlike Void Cowboy's in their make. Right now most had tears, rips or were soaked in blood that had clotted over. One of the bodies had their heads ripped off. The other seemed to have most of its guts spilled out. A third had his entire body staked to a pole. As for the sole girl of the group, Theo couldn't put into words what she had gone through.

Void Cowboy finally couldn't hold it in and emptied his stomach onto a nearby bush. Theo stepped back, having seen more than enough, and shakily withdrew his phone in order to call the police. When Theo finished his call, he put the phone away and went over to his friend and gently clapped his back.

"It's horrible." Void Cowboy coughed as he tried to get rid of the foulness left in his mouth. "You know..we could have ended up like them. Dead. Forgotten. Thrown away like trash."

Not exactly. Steadfast recognized some of the wounds on the bodies he spotted. They seemed remarkably similar to what Hookwolf inflicted on his opponents when his father had once forced him to attend a cage fight. That he knew who was responsible for the murders just made him feel worse. But he also steeled himself and refused to let the situation overcome his emotions. _'This is the reason why I want to become a hero. I want to get away from the madness. No, I want to do more than that. I want to stop this misery.'_

"You're holding out pretty good, Steadfast. Heh, I guess you've named yourself well." Void Cowboy looked down at his costume and his holstered pistols. "Goddammit, I'm shaking in my boots. This is not what I had in mind when I decided to be a hero.."

"This is the risk we take when we fight the villains." Steadfast said, hoping his partner wouldn't see how scared he was himself. He just hid it better. "This won't be the last time."

They shared a solemn moment of silence before Void Cowboy spoke up again. "Hey, I'm wondering.. did Freebie foresee this would happen? Do you think she cares? What if she's some kind of sadist power vampire? There's got to be a catch to those free powers, you know what I'm saying?"

"It's not her fault." Theo replied, though he was not exactly willing to defend someone he hardly knew. "I don't know what Freebie has in mind, but remember that it was us who came to her in the first place. What we do with our powers is our own responsibility."

"Yeah.. you're right.. I guess." Fortunately for Theo, Void Cowboy had nothing more to say. They both waited for the authorities to arrive and made their statements.


	11. Tutorial: Interlude 1-A

**Free to Play**

Interlude 1.A

* * *

><p>The television feed sprang into life, tuning to show a popular news program. "Welcome to the Morning USA Show. I am your host, Nick Fischer, and this is <em>your <em>morning dose."

The image next to his face changed into the skyline of Brockton Bay.

"Up first, the cape explosion continues to sweep Brockton Bay as more parahumans crop up. Crime rates have skyrocketed, but so have arrests. Police and local PRT forces are overwhelmed, prompting Mayor Christner to declare an emergency. Yet so far, there are no indications that the state or the federal government will intervene robustly, instead choosing a wait and see approach. To find out what the latest facts are on the ground, let's go to our correspondent at ground zero. Kari Styles, can you hear me?"

The television screen split into two. The pretty blond correspondent nodded as she stood right downtown with a building smoking behind her. "I read you loud and clear, Nick."

"Great. So tell me, what do the local residents think of all the parachaos?"

"Well Nick, most locals have been brave, telling me that they intend to endure the violence just as they had a decade ago when the last major gang war happened in the city. But there are signs that some are starting to lose belief in that confidence. The local housing market is thrown into turmoil as an unprecedented amount of families are seeking to move town. The only reason why the prices haven't crashed is those homes in turn are being bought up by other Americans around the country."

The news anchor put up a quizzical expression. "That is an interesting fact, Kari, and that raises an interesting question. Why on Earth would people living safely in their own towns pack up their bags and move to what increasingly looks like a Simurgh-affected warzone?"

"Well as you know, Freebie is only one woman. A very special woman, but she's only able to grant superpowers by herself. Freebie reportedly only wants to service the Brockton Bay locale, and has put up an increasing amount of restrictions to stem the overwhelming flow of so-called 'power tourists', who only stay long enough for one dose before returning to their home towns and cause mischief there with their new powers. A proof of permanent residency is just one of the new requirements any prospective customer must show."

"Well, whatever the reason, this has certainly put a big boost on the local economy. Thank you Kari Styles, and stay safe."

"I will!"

The anchor turned in his seat in order to face another camera. "As the local situation in Brockton Bay continues to escalate, any inquiries we have made to national organisations such as the PRT have been answered with relative silence. What could be the reason for the lack of a substantive response, and what does it mean for the country as a whole? To answer these questions, we turn to our local cape analyst C. Keith O'Malley."

The shot changed to show another man had joined the anchor's table. "Glad to be with you, Nick."

"First, let's turn to the PRT. Chief Director Costa-Brown must be under immense pressure to respond to the unfolding situation in Brockton Bay. Why has she not come forward yet and at least answered some questions?"

"That tells us quite a bit." The analyst responded. "First, policy discussions must likely be ongoing. The PRT doesn't even want to hint they are doing one action or another in the fear that they might prematurely commit to a strategy they don't believe is the best way to handle the Free2Play phenomenon. Costa-Brown, normally known for her decisive stewardship of the most important national agency, has perhaps learned from her previous instances of overreach and is giving the situation more thought in order to craft the best solution."

Nick Fischer frowned at that, purposefully echoing the concern of many millions of Americans. "Is that not fiddling while Rome is burning? The crime spree brought on by Free2Play is rippling throughout New England as reckless youths with way too much power than they ever should have the right to possess are marauding through homes and stores. Many believe that enough is enough, and that the Protectorate must respond."

"But they have responded, Nick, just like they do every day. All the Protectorate teams in the Northeast are fully mobilized and they are quite on top of stopping most new parahumans. They won't stop all the villains, but we will not see Boston or New York plunged into a state of emergency any time soon."

Smiling ruefully, Nick turned to another point. "Our heroes are certainly working hard to keep us safe, and they deserve all our gratitude for pulling extra shifts. We'll be having a short break now, but stay tuned for more coverage on Brockton Bay, where we turn to our senior political correspondent and ask why our gridlocked congress won't be implementing any new legislation to address the crisis."

* * *

><p>Panacea entered the hospital and met with the polite greetings of the nursing staff and nearby passerby's with a practiced smile. Normally, she always found it pointless and exhausting to work day-in day-out at the hospital, but lately it's been her only refuge from the fight New Wave was having at home. She shook her head at the cause. Sarah and Carol were at opposite ends on how to deal with the hopeful new heroes who wanted to join their dead movement, sans mask and all. Amy shook her head at their rank stupidity.<em>'What kind of idiot wants to imitate us and live unmasked?'<em>

Though she lived that very same life, she often wondered how her life would be if New Wave were just a little bit more regular. Would she have more free time? Use the excuse to maintain a civilian life to squeeze out a few blissful hours of fun and relaxation? Or would the guilt consume her regardless? _'A mask won't change anything. It can't change how I see myself from within.'_

She pushed aside the matter and exited the elevator, preparing to do the first round of healing. "Good afternoon, Kaley. How many bodies do I have for today? Let me guess, more than yesterday."

The perky receptionist handed over a clipboard with the details. "You got it. How did you know?"

Amy didn't deign to give a reply. _'Stupid powers and stupid people are never a good combination.'_

As she turned away to address the most critical cases, Kaley called her out. "Oh, before you go, there's someone important who'd like to meet you."

"Who?"

A man stood up from a nearby waiting seat. "That would be me, Senior Agent Rothman of the Parahuman Response Team."

"I don't think I've scheduled a meeting with the PRT." Amy frowned in puzzlement. "Is it urgent?"

"We have a pressing matter that requires your attention. If you'll follow me to the conference room, you can see what I mean."

The whole situation seemed shady to her, but Panacea was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Ever since the whole 'Free Superpowers to Anyone Even if Your IQ is 50' debacle sprang up, every institution seemed to be doing a whole lot of panicking and not a lot of peacekeeping. Amy should know, as she was a personal witness to the human cost of one delusional woman's dream to spread the gift of powers. She had already seen too many cuts, bruises, burns and more to last the month. The PRT agent finally reached the conference room and opened the door for her. She stepped in to an unexpected sight.

A smattering of capes sat around the table, most of them nursing a cup of tea or coffee. Several of them dressed the part of a classic hero, while others just came with their normal day clothes with a simple domino mask to comply with tradition. Some were as young as Vista, while another one was nearing retirement age. All of the occupants stopped what they were doing and stared at Amy with looks of.. admiration? Wonderment?

"Fellows, please welcome Panacea."

"Hello Amy!" "Good afternoon, Panacea." "Hi!" "Ohmygosh I always wanted to meet you!"

"H-Hi." Amy responded, giving them all a shy wave. She turned to the agent. "Why am I here?"

Rothman swept his hand over to the motley collection. "You're here because they are all healers, or parahumans capable of improving the human condition. Some of them have come from our Junior Wards and Junior Protectorate programs, but others have volunteered their services directly to the hospital. We'd like to enlist your services in order to test their powers and determine whether they are safe to use. If everything checks out, perhaps some of them will start to volunteer alongside you and help you in your healing duties."

_'W-What?!'_ She almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could they be so stupid to volunteer their time away? Yet.. the prospect of having company seemed less alarming once she imagined how it might go. _'Could I trust them to take over for me?'_

Amy didn't know what to think, so she put her apprehensions in a box and tucked it neatly away. Instead, she greeted the new capes and talked to them a bit, learning what they thought their powers were. Then she tested them out one by one in an exhaustive process that lasted well into the evening.

Most of the volunteers could indeed call themselves healers, if barely. Panacea dwarfed most of them by a massive margin, but the individuals took it in stride. One woman secreted a snot that induced minor regeneration. It was disgusting, but the snot could be jarred up and sent to a place that had no healers. The youngest cape was a girl only a little older than Vista. Her power didn't heal directly per se. Instead, she was a minor Master that made the people around her happier when she laughed. To test that out, Agent Rothman simply put on an episode of Mr. Bean (the Earth Aleph version of course, as the Earth Bet version turned into a massive flop when they decided to portray him as a supervillain), and the girl lifted up almost the entire floor. Even Amy felt a bit of her weariness disappear. Her good mood persisted even when she finally returned home, and she went to bed thinking it might not have been a bad idea that more people were getting powers.

_'There's plenty of bad guys getting powers they don't deserve.. but there are a few good people too.'_

Even waking up to another tense time in the household failed to discourage her much. The city had a lot more healers right now. She looked at her stepfather Mark. No one from yesterday had any powers useful enough to treat brain injuries, but maybe someday..

_'Maybe someday, someone can lift my burdens.'_

"C'mon, lets go to school." Victoria said, and dragged Amy out the door.

School was different, too. A lot of students had superpowers or were planning to get them. It made the situation a bit unsafe and a couple of PRT officers patrolled the hallways in order to make sure nobody got any bright ideas. When she entered her first class, the teacher introduced yet another transfer. _'There's so much moving around these days. At least this one's a local and not another power tourist.'_

"Hi, everyone." The shy, brown-haired girl greeted the class. "My name is Taylor Hebert, and I'm new."


	12. Tutorial: Interlude 1-B

**Free to Play**

Interlude 1.B

* * *

><p>The Number Man appreciated Freebie's candor, if not her conviction. He stood up from the chair and offered a hand - an implicit gesture of trust. Freebie grasped it with her thin, feminine hand and shook.<p>

"If you ever change your mind, you can contact me through the e-mail I gave you. My financial services remain at your disposal, should you choose to reconsider."

"Thank you for the consideration, but I am sure I won't have a need of it." Freebie replied, likely smiling behind her elegant porcelain mask. "Uber, can you please let our guest out the door?"

"Yes, boss." Her heavily-armored guard saluted, and stuck to the Number Man's back as they exited the office and wandered through the partially-refurbished base. Most of the errant Mario and Sonic posters had been torn down along with a lot of other junk. The hidden base was clearly getting a makeover. A few of Freebie's powered lackeys were cleaning up Uber and Leet's old messes and were installing more furniture and equipment.

Number Man threw a brief glance at one Freebie's first business partners. "Uber, right? I admit I am more than a little curious why you've decided to support your current boss. Is her business model not an anathema to your own vision of how video games should be appreciated?"

The villain - or former villain - let out a laugh. "Lots of people ask me that. I don't want to spill all the details, but let's say Freebie convinced Leet and I that it's better to work together with developers than stay as fans."

"A very prudent decision." The mathematical Thinker nodded, understanding Uber's point more deeply than he intended to reveal. They strolled through a barren corridor that led upwards.

"Hey, we can see the way the wind is blowing. When another game's come to town, you can either play along or get played." Uber stated as he went through an elaborate set of security procedures. "Well, here's the exit. Goodbye."

The Number Man exited the hidden base and took a meandering tour through the block. Only when he was absolutely sure no one was watching did he say, "Door me."

The clinical interior of Cauldron's hidden facility was a welcome facade after staying confined in one of Uber and Leet's ramshackle abodes. Doctor Mother greeted his return with a look that oozed discontent. "So she has refused your offer?"

"As expected." The man said, taking a seat at the table. "Contessa could do better."

Yet that wouldn't have advanced Cauldron's goals due to Freebie's idiosyncrasies. Better to meet her with an unassuming face, and accept her rejection with grace. It mattered little in the long run. The Number Man could simply continue to keep an eye on Freebie's capital through her existing bank accounts and investments, though he loathed the inefficiency.

"Freebie is an interesting woman. Neither villain nor hero." The Number Man started, trying to parse his words. "She is difficult to read, but her inexperience reveals more than she prefers."

"Is she in it for the money? Power? Control?"

That was very difficult to pin down. "All of them, and more. Freebie has a larger goal in mind, that's what I can safely surmise. All the rest is coincidental. Sure, she covets money, but she has made no attempts at maximizing her profit. If she did, she'd run her business as a monopoly and ask for billions for her services."

Doctor Mother nodded in understanding. "Money can only get you so far. And excessive wealth always brings unwelcome scrutiny."

"Yet she is not aiming to distribute her products as widely as possible either. I've seen no indications that she intends to expand her business beyond Brockton Bay."

The insistence on sticking to her hometown was irrational. Brockton Bay's glory days were over. The place was a dump. Free2Play would have been much better served if she operated her business in a more favorable and dynamic environment. Yet Freebie would never think of doing so. It was one of her many flaws.

"We shall stay our current course, then." Doctor Mother concluded, and stood up, ready to get back to her duties. "As long as she does not prove detrimental to our ultimate goals, we shall leave her be, and let the world grow accustomed to the novelty of buying superpowers."

Allowing Caudron to sell their own, superior products more openly in the future, if the need required it. If anything good could be said about Freebie, it was that she didn't compete with Cauldron, but rather enabled them. Even more, Freebie was doing something different, changing the failing cape landscape into something new and different. How it would turn out, no one knew for sure. There were too many variables and they grew by the day. But when the game finally reached its end - as all games did - Cauldron would be ready to pick up the pieces.

* * *

><p>Somer's Rock saw little uptick in business even with the increase in cape activities. Very few new parahumans even knew of the importance this old and musty pub. Much of the clientele consisted of the older guard, the born and bred Brocktonites who found even Fugly Bob's too modern for their tastes.<p>

None of them were present at this moment. The closed sign in front of the door came up rarely, and even fewer customers knew what it represented.

The door wasn't even unlocked, really, as one guest aptly demonstrated. The individuals inside looked up at the new entrant. Kaiser - in full metal regalia - made a contemptuous sound. "I know punctuality is a very fuzzy concept to you, but thirty minutes is too much."

Lung waited until he took a seat at the central table before making a reply. "There are too many heroes on the streets these days. Perhaps you have no problems wading in their blood, but I prefer to be discreet."

"Gentlemen, please. Let us address the topic we came to discuss, preferably _without_ posturing." Coil interjected. He had been the one to call this extraordinary meeting in the first place. Extraordinary in that he made the condition that none bring any lieutenants or other lackeys. The more villains gathered in one place, the more the meeting risked falling into pointless pissing matches. The current situation was too dire to allow that to distract from the main issue.

"This shit's fucking stupid." Skidmark said as he leaned back and put his mud-crusted boots on the table. He ignored the ugly stares. "Why the fuck we need to talk? We got a good thing going here! We send our underlings to Freebie, and we get a free supervillain. What's not to like?"

Coil shook his head. "You do not see the bigger picture. Yes, in the short term we benefit from Free2Play's generous offers. But what comes next? Her entry into the Brockton Bay cape scene has completely upset the playing board. We, the established criminals, have all been turned into her pawns in a game where she sets the moves."

Skidmark got the gist. "She's fucking us around. Gonna screw us in our ass if we let her do her thing."

Kaiser nodded. "Took you long enough. The largest issue facing our gangs is that we will be unable to maintain long-term parity with the heroes. Freebie offers upgrades to any hero or rogue, but bars this essential service to even minor villains. We can sneak past this restriction to an extent if our villain has kept a low profile, but overall it means that our 'free' villains will be significantly out-powered by the 'free' heroes."

"Heh." Lung let out a snort. "You are all running scared for nothing. These heroes are nothing compared to us. The boosts Freebie offers are minor enhancements from what I've seen so far. There is only so many times you can polish an old shoe."

"That may be true, and we do not know the extent a boost can improve one's powers, but enough heroes boosted many times can still skew the balance of power of this city, to our detriment." Coil warned the gang leaders. "Let us not be complacent and let the change creep up on us. I suggest we act more proactively."

"And what kind of 'proactive' solution do you have in mind, Coil?" Kaiser poked back, leaning back with two armored hands behind his head. "Pray not your usual method of kidnapping and threatening your targets."

The skeletal supervillain shook his head. "She has become too high-profile for such underhanded tactics. I suggest we approach her openly instead."

"Uh," Skidmark scratched his unwashed hair. "Won't she just call her pet army and drive us off?"

"Not if we wave the flag of truce. It's simple, really. We come up to Freebie and make her an offer she can't refuse. If we present a united front, we will have a high likelihood of success."

"I do not like this talk of compromise." Lung interrupted. "Freebie is a nuisance, a disruption of the natural order. Unlike the three of you, I have no interest in pumping affiliated gangers into the city to get powered up, and then send them back where they came from in order to strengthen your little alliances with other gangs. I am not part of a 'Gesellschaft' to whom I need to pay any tribute."

Kaiser irked in his seat. "None of us can be as humble as you, Lung, to keep your ambitions limited to the poorest districts of a single middle-sized city. Truly you are a model of small-mindedness."

"What did you say?" The Asian rumbled from his seat, sitting straighter and leaning forward. "It seems you are underestimating my reach."

"Gentlemen, gentlemen!" Coil raised his voice, trying to keep this meeting from turning into a total clusterfuck. "We are all mature enough to recognize each other's strengths. Freebie is counting on our disunity to keep us from protesting her actions. Let us find what little common ground we have and direct our enmity to the real enemy."

"Uhh.." Skidmark looked up from the line of coke he had just finished snorting. "What does enmity mean?"

Coil refrained from palming his face, an action Kaiser was more than willing to do in his stead. _'And I thought this would be easy with the four of us. This is going to be a long night.'_


End file.
